Fantastic
by MikariStar
Summary: A Final Fantasy VII short stories collection. Avalanche, the Turks and more!
1. Story 1

A collection of Final Fantasy VII short stories.

Fantastic

Fantasy 01: Guardian of the Goldfish

Cloud entrusted Vincent with a very important mission.

A boy was heard narrating... -"The brave knight stood watch over the beautiful princess. He would not let the dragon harm her, he would protect her with his life! The dragon glared at the knight with a challenge reflected in his eyes. He wanted to eat the princess but the knight would not allow it!"-

"Meow! Hiss!" -"The dragon's war cry!"-

"Ow!" -"The knight has been attacked!"-

"Vincent!" Denzel stopped his narration and Marlene rush over to Vincent. She took the cat and held him firmly in her arms. "You need to behave while you're here Dragon."

At Shera's insistence Cid had gotten a cat which meant now Vincent was not only stuck babysitting Marlene and Denzel but also Cid's cat. He didn't mind too much but with Princess around things were significantly harder. But he made a promise to his friend Cloud, he promised he would protect his pet goldfish and even if Dragon made a scratching post out of him he would keep that promise.

To Marlene's amusement Denzel continued with his narration -"and so with the two wizards keeping the dragon busy the knight once again resumed his mission to guard the princess for he is Vincent guardian of the goldfish!"-

End of Fantasy 01

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. Fantasy 01 was inspired by Snow-chan and her Vincent figure that guards her goldfish crackers.

xoxox xox xoxox

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	2. Story 2

Fantastic

Fantasy 02: Sacrifice

It was late one night and in dimly lit laboratory at Shinra, a woman typed rapidly into a computer. She knew she should be getting some sleep but she could not stop her hands from continuing the swift typing. She had to finish this, there was something she wanted, needed, to know.

Finally with a breath of relief she typed the final codes and completed her secret analysis program, it was a compatibility analysis program. She clicked to start her creation and numbers appeared on the screen. "I thought he liked me more than that..." But the numbers didn't lie the way the heart could. Perhaps that was not the man for her, but there was another, Vincent Valentine.

She ran the program again this time indicating for it to retrieve Vincent's data. The numbers she saw were far more reassuring. She had assumed he only felt friendship for her but when the computer put all the information together it showed it was more than that. "Interesting..."

It was amazing what a woman could learn after entering some codes retrieving a little from the system. It seemed that on an average his looks towards her lasted longer than she thought. The rhythm of his breaths, his heart beats, a person could not detect that with the precision of Shinra's systems just by looking. "Vincent..." She considered the option, though the first didn't leave her thoughts she was now seeing her other option in a new light. "Vincent Valentine..."

She smiled; any other woman would find this scientific process to analyze her possible dates to be too troublesome but not a true woman of science like Dr. Lucrecia Crescent. "Maybe..."

The cursor moved over to another option in her program guided by her curious hand. Shinra had all the information she needed to put their DNA together in a simulation and show her what their children would look like if they had any.

But before she clicked the lights came on. "Working so late? Don't you know it's bad for your eyes to look at a bright screen in a dark room?"

Lucrecia was startled. She couldn't move fast enough to close the program before Hojo appeared behind her and saw it. "I was just about to finish." She tried to get his attention away from the screen but failed.

"Interesting, you're doing a statistical analysis before you choose your date? Good, good, that's the smart thing to do."

Though it was a compliment, Hojo's words embarrassed her. She didn't want anyone to know about that program.

"Let's try something else." He took the mouse from her hand and guided it to retrieve new data. Lucrecia and Hojo, the numbers were high, possibly boosted by data such as similar careers and scientific interests that out weighted out other things in the program.

It was then that Lucrecia decided that using her program was not such a good idea after all. Maybe it was best just to follow her heart. She got a good feeling from Vincent, as if she truly had a chance for happiness with him. He was a good man, kind, talented, smart, handsome and single. Why did she need to analyze it any further?

"How convenient that you even added an option to see our future children. Let's give it a try."

At first Lucrecia closed her eyes when Hojo clicked. She didn't want to look at their possible child because that child didn't exist and never would, she would make sure of that.

"Our son will have a lot of fan girls."

Lucrecia opened her eyes curious about what Hojo said. She saw the boy on the screen and was quite surprised. The first picture was of a baby, an adorable child but then again most babies were cute, at least for her. The next picture was of the same child as a young boy. He had silver hair and green eyes, a very cute little boy. Lucrecia wanted to pull him right out of the screen and hug him. The third picture took her by surprise. There was a stunning young man with shiny long silver hair, captivating green eyes, tall, strong and handsome. Was the man in the screen truly her and Hojo's possible son?

"What do you think? I say we make a good match."

Lucrecia's heart skipped a beat. It felt wrong to deny that gorgeous creature his life, perhaps even more wrong than dating Hojo. She wouldn't be able to live with the guild of disappointing the future female generation like that. The man on the screen deserved to live. She simply couldn't deny him existence...

That time Lucrecia made a choice. Don't forget that when you stare at Sephiroth it is all thanks to Dr. Lucrecia Crescent's brave sacrifice.

End of Fantasy 02

Inspired by an old blog entry from Snow where she wondered who would choose Hojo over Vincent and by Cherri (and my) liking for Sephiroth. Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. 


	3. Story 3

Fantastic

Fantasy 03: Emergency

"Hurry!" Reno called as he ran inside the Shinra building.

"Weren't you in a hurry?" Rude asked; Reno was just standing in front of the elevators him even if Rufus had made it clear he better not be late again.

"Well you see the thing is..." Reno started and Rude didn't like the sound of that. "Look," Reno pointed at a sign that read 'closed for maintenance'.

"Take the stairs," Rude resolved, it was the only option.

"Carry me," Reno's request was followed by a long silence. "Please Rude, carry me! You're not going to abandon your best friend when he needs you the most, are you?"

"Alright..." Rude picked up his partner by the back of the jacket.

"Why are you carrying me like a common shopping bag? Is this how you treat your best friend?" Reno complained.

"Be thankful I'm carrying you at all," Rude replied, consuming some more of his vast supply of patience.

Reno complained all the way up the stairs, until finally they reached the top and Rude put him down. "Thanks, you rock!" With those words of gratitude Reno continued on his way to Rufus' office as if the strange event never took place.

End of Fantasy 03

I have no idea where this came from. Just random I guess. Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII.


	4. Story 4

Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. This one is based on an odd, chibified, doodle fanart I made a long time ago.

Fantastic

Fantasy 04: Pliers

He often stuck out his tongue at... well everyone... Perhaps everyone except Rufus; or at least he waited until Rufus wasn't looking to show his tongue. It was a habit that had been increasing lately and getting on her nerves more and more. "Reno, please stop sticking your tongue out at people for any or no reason. It's very childish, unprofessional and annoying." She tried to warn him, to ask him to stop. Her conscience was clean in that she tried.

His response was the gesture that bothered her so much. The red head simply stuck his tongue out at the rookie Turk and went about his way.

Elena pouted, Reno was certainly asking for it and he got it. She grabbed her silvery metallic vengeance grasping it tightly in her hands. "Reno!"

If she was going to meddle in his business, his choice of being expressive, she would only receive raspberries in return... a choice he would soon regret. "Awlwawlwa!"

She grinned and he was sure he saw pure evil shining mischievously in her eyes. Then she released him when she thought he had been sufficiently punished. "Please don't do that anymore." She smiled sweetly and innocently as if nothing ever happened.

"Youwe cwuel Ewena!" That had hurt, a lot. Who would have thought the seemingly harmless talkative rookie could be so dangerous.

End of Fantasy 04 


	5. Story 5

A short story about how Elena felt when she first joined the Turks. Her promotion was because of Reno so the least she could do was visit him while he recovered.

Fantastic

Fantasy 05: First Day on the Job

Everything appeared to be exceptionally quiet around her as she walked towards the large building hearing only the sound of her own foot steps. Slow but steady, Elena made her way inside. The place looked a lot bigger than she remembered. She had been there before, having close relatives involved in the business such as her sister whom she never forgave for surpassing her in every way she could think of. Gun... This promotion would show her Elena could do just as well as Gun if not better. That's what she kept telling herself. Taking a deep breath she continued walking.

For a moment she hesitated wondering if she was heading towards the right place. There she was dressed in the usual Turk clothing, dark suit, tie, shoes. Every detail had been checked and rechecked but it wouldn't help if she arrived at the wrong place and made a fool of herself. Pushing the thoughts away she tried to look confident and continued walking.

The building had the usual people but to her it felt deserted, as if she was the only one there. Everyone was a stranger today because she wasn't here to visit; she was here to do her job. She was going to become a Turk; today was her first day as one. It was what she wanted, not always but she did now. She used to hate the Turks but now it was different.

She took a moment to think about the reason she was there. It was because of Reno. He was injured in a certain incident in Sector Seven. She had found out the details but wasn't thinking about that now. Only one question occupied her mind other than her insecurities. Was Reno the only reason why she was promoted?

She had promised herself not to be upset about it. After all, a promotion was a promotion. She shouldn't be concerned with why she was promoted but make the best of it. Still, she wondered if sooner or later she would become a Turk even if Reno hasn't been injured.

Her feet betrayed her carrying her the wrong way. She saw him, Rude about to enter a room in the medical facilities of the building. He was a Turk and the partner of the Turk who was injured, Reno.

He heard her coming and looked in her direction. She froze. "Elena?" He recognized her.

"Yes," she quietly replied.

"Did you come to visit Reno?" Rude asked. He shouldn't be surprised. A visit, if only out of politeness, wasn't all that rare.

Not knowing what else to answer Elena nodded. "Yes, if it's alright."

"Come in," Rude replied.

The man Elena saw in that room wasn't a gravely injured or dying man like the one she expected to find. He was more like a cheerful little boy who was more hyper than usual because his leg was broken and he couldn't burn the excess sugar in his system. "Hey Rude, did you bring me more chocolates?"

"Not this time. You already had too many today," Rude was right.

But Reno didn't agree, "there's no such a thing as too much chocolate! At least you brought a visitor. Elena, right?"

"Yes," she paused. "How are you feeling Reno?" It was the obvious and generic question to be asked in such a situation. Also one that, although over used, was a little inappropriate.

Elena remembered watching a reporter on TV interviewing an elderly woman who had lost her husband and two sons in the Sector Seven incident. 'How do you feel right now?' The reporter had asked. The woman could hardly speak due to her crying. Wasn't it obvious she was sad, depressed and in pain?

Though Elena thought it had been a very stupid question she mentally excused herself thinking this case was different. Other than the broken leg and a few minor scratches on their way to healing, Reno looked alright.

"I'm dying of boredom," Reno answered. "I can't wait to get out of here." It had been even worse in the hospital it was more boring there. At least in the medical section of the Shinra building Reno heard of what was going on in the company even if he couldn't participate yet.

Elena looked around the room. Reno had a big screen TV conveniently positioned in front of his bed. A controller sat in a small table beside his bed and videogames were piled up next to it. There was currently a game on a console next to the TV. The open box near the console must have been where that particular game was kept. Elena saw the word 'Zelda' written on the box with a few other things written in smaller letters.

To Reno's left on the bed was a handheld game. It was currently paused but she could still see a picture of a pink happy face on the small screen. Various boxes of chocolate lay empty scattered across the floor. The walls were decorated with posters of those who Reno admired such as the Turks legend Vincent Valentine, a video game heroine with the words 'Tomb Raider' at the bottom of the poster and other similar posters covered the walls almost entirely.

A plastic laser sword was on the bed to Reno's right. He used it to poke Rude for the fun of it as soon as he came within poking range. "Even with all his little toys he's bored," Rude spoke. Reno had been bossing him around lately, claiming that it was Rude's duty to take care of him.

"It's just not the same when I'm all alone and forgotten," Reno made a sad face.

"Right, well you didn't look bored when you were fighting that Ganon guy in the game," Rude reminded.

"Yeah well I already beat all my video games several times. I'm too much of a great gamer for my own good. I beat all the games so quickly and easy the fun doesn't last too long," Reno once again hinted that he needed new things to pass the time with. A few more video games on Rude's account would be nice.

Rude merely rolled his eyes which couldn't be seen under his sunglasses. He wore them all the time even inside and even at night. Maybe he got so used to them he couldn't imagine going anywhere without them.

"It's good to see you're doing alright," Elena sounded sincere but the words tasted bitter. Would she be demoted as soon as Reno recovered? Maybe they could use having an extra Turks around. If she proved herself, then maybe she could stay. She couldn't lose the position, she just couldn't allow that. "I should be on my way now."

"I should be going too," Rude agreed.

"Aw, you're leaving poor little me all alone? How cruel!" Reno complained, again with the sad face worthy of a chibi. That had convinced Rude many times before, but this time it wouldn't work because he really had to get to work.

"I have to go. You'll be fine on your own for a little while," Rude assured.

"Hey, before you leave, don't forget to change the video game for me. I'm tired of kicking Ganon's four five five all day. It's time for some good old classic princess rescuing. Nice seeing you Elena, glad you came to visit, just don't forget to bring me a present next!" After changing the game in the console, Rude left Reno to rant to himself and exited the room along with Elena.

Elena didn't look too happy. But it wasn't a sure thing that she would leave the Turks as soon as Reno recovered. But she had to know for sure and as soon as she had a moment alone with Tseng she asked. He assured her that she had been promoted not only because of the situation of needing another member in the Turks, but by her own merits. Even if he didn't say it directly, Elena knew she would be staying in the Turks even after Reno recovered. With her confidence restored she became more talkative as she truly was and got comfortable with her job.

Eventually Reno did recover. Rude was glad his partner was alright not only because they were best friends, but because Reno could be a little annoying when he was hyper with no fast way to burn sugar, but mostly because they were best friends. Elena stayed with the Turks and the rest of the story has already been told.

End of Fantasy 05

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII and I don't own The Legend of Zelda, Kirby, Star Wars, Lara Croft or Super Mario. 


	6. Story 6

Reno goes to a bar where the bartender isn't even old enough to drink, but no one believes what he saw.

Fantastic

Fantasy 06: Bartender

It was rumored that Avalanche was hiding in sector seven. It was also rumored that sector seven housed a very good bar called Seventh Heaven. Reno decided to investigate both. He entered the bar early in the afternoon. They were probably running it as a restaurant at the time but maybe they would serve drinks as well, he wouldn't lose anything by asking. He sat at the bar and waited for the one in charge to arrive, the place looked deserted, though he thought he heard noises from bellow, perhaps a basement.

"What would you like, sir?"

Reno searched for the tiny voice. Standing behind the bar there was a little girl so small she could hardly peek over the counter. Obviously she was not of drinking age; actually she didn't look old enough to be a waitress either.

"I'm waiting for the bartender, are you her daughter?" Reno had heard rumors about the bartender being a pretty young lady who was also part of Avalanche but he didn't hear anything about her having a daughter.

Marlene shook her head. She was told not to give out too much information to strangers unless it concerned the menu. Though she could sometimes be shy, when it came to playing bartender in Tifa's absence she could handle talking a little more. "I'm the bartender, would you like a drink, sir?"

Reno blinked, he had heard the bartender was young but it was to be assumed she had to be old enough to drink in order to be a bartender. That meant that she was at the very least twenty-one and this little girl didn't even look ten. "Sure... the special of the house..." Reno decided to play along until he figured out what was going on. He could be walking right into a trap for all he knew but he was a Turks so he could handle it.

"Okay," Marlene occupied herself with preparing a drink for her customer. She climbed on a stool to reach the bottles on the shelves and mixed a few different types of drinks just like she saw Tifa do it. After the drink was done she placed it on the counter in front of Reno, standing on her tip toes and raising her little arms just to reach. "Here you go." She smiled happy that she had managed to make the drink without making her customer wait for too long and she didn't spill a single drop. After being left alone so often, when all her possible babysitters were busy with Avalanche work, Marlene had become pretty independent at a very young age.

"Thanks..." Reno tried the drink out of curiosity. He was surprised to find that a child who was clearly not old enough to drink was capable of making a pretty good drink. Maybe this kid was not as young as she looked, maybe she was just short, maybe she was a specialized assassin that tricked her victims with her innocent appearance and had no mercy on the kill... No, that couldn't be it; no one could fake such an innocent face. Maybe this child was the daughter of someone who worked there, maybe not the bartender but someone. Maybe she just watched the bartender work often and learned to make drinks like that, kids learn fast. Reno finished his drink and decided that the situation was too weird not to share. He paid, left a tip and rushed out of the bar to find Rude.

xoxox xox xoxox

"So now I'm just waiting for the promotion. I requested it a long time ago but haven't received an answer yet. I really think I'm ready for this job now, I really do. Last time I asked they said I should wait another week for the answer. I'm pretty sure it's a yes; I'm just waiting for it. I want to know what's going on so I don't feel lost on my first day. That's why I'm here, I hope you don't mind. I'm not a Turk yet, but I expect to be one soon and I do work for Shinra so it's not like whatever information we uncover will go to a stranger. Is it okay? Do you mind if I come along? I thought I could see this as training."

When Reno arrived, Rude was talking with a blonde young woman, or rather she was talking, a lot, and he was listening quietly. "Elena, you talk too much." Reno recognized her; she was Gun's younger sister, Elena, the talkative one, hard to miss.

Elena decided to ignore that comment for the sake of getting along with her future coworkers. "Reno, I'm going to be a Turk soon."

"Good for you," Tseng was the one without a partner so Reno expected Elena to end up working with him. He didn't know that eventually Scarlet would drag Tseng all over the place looking for huge materia while Elena joined Reno and Rune in their Turk missions. The redhead never imagined that Elena's promotion, which was not being processed as she thought but rather sitting in a pile of documents in an unattended desk, would eventually be processed and approved in a rush when he had to take a small leave of absence. Dropping the plate was not really the plan at such an early stage. "Guess what I saw at the Seventh Heaven? There was a little girl playing bartender!"

"What's so strange about that?" Elena asked. "If her parents own a bar then it sounds normal that she would play bartender since she seeing that all the time. I used to play Turks with my dolls when I was little."

"No, I mean she was the bartender and she wasn't even of drinking age." Reno tried to explain.

Elena shook her head, what Reno was saying made no sense. "That can't be, you can't possibly be a bartender if you can't drink. Maybe the bartender just looked young."

"No really, she was a little girl, it was so weird." Reno had to admit it was a little hard to believe. "Let's go I'll show you."

"Rude is working and I'm helping." Elena never approved about running off to have fun during working hours.

"But you have to see this, let's go aibou!" Reno started walking back to the Seventh Heaven and away from the sector seven pillar.

"He's too sober..." Rude quietly commented.

Elena would logically think it's the opposite. "Don't you mean he's drunk?" Though Reno seemed to have no difficulties in talking and walking normally, maybe the alcohol was what made the bartender look younger.

"No, he says strange things when he's sober." Rude knew Reno all too well. He knew even the things that didn't make sense.

"Either way shouldn't we be working?" Elena brought up her concern again.

"Don't be such a workaholic Elena, Avalanche is around here so in a way, this is work." Reno reminded her. That seemed to be enough for Elena to follow Reno and Rude to the bar without complaints.

xoxox xox xoxox

When the two Turks and the future Turk arrived at the bar, Tifa had already returned to her job and Marlene had gone down to the basement. Rude seemed to like the bartender who was actually a young woman, not a little girl like Reno had said. After their time at the bar, Reno still insisted that he had seen a little girl but no one believed him and he was starting to have his doubts about his own memories. Maybe he was in fact too sober and it somehow made him see the bartender as a little girl, big difference to who she actually was. He would go to the eye doctor after work anyway, just in case.

End of Fantasy 06

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. Aibou means partner in Japanese. Really, who leaves a child alone to watch over a bar? Of course Reno doesn't care who the bartender is as long as he gets his drinks. Another weird fanfic product of a sugar high. 


	7. Story 7

Fantastic

Fantasy 07: Reno, the Tricky Redhead Reindeer

Vincent wasn't sure if he should feel accepted or betrayed. "Once a Turks, always a Turks." He should have known that Reno had his reasons to be all friendly and stick to him like glue. Of course, the Reno knew he was doomed and he wanted to bring Vincent down with him.

There they were, in reindeer costumes, while Rufus portrayed a much younger version of Santa Claus and Vincent refrained from shooting Reno only because he didn't have Cerberus on him at the moment. "I am never accepting another invitation from you," Vincent declared.

Reno stuck out his tongue childishly. He knew that infinite amounts of blackmail would be generated at the Shinra Christmas party and he didn't want Vincent to feel left out. Turks gotta stick together; besides, it wasn't so bad, especially since Reno was appointed Rudolf and got to wear the shiny red nose with the blinking light. It matched his hair, which was adorned with reindeer horns, and made him feel special.

After being sucked into the chore of becoming a reindeer along with the others, Vincent tried to make the best of the situation and entertain the children. However, one thing was for sure, he was not pulling Rufus' sleigh.

End of Fantasy 07

To those who read the Shinra Chronicles, I plan to write more Final Fantasy VII, Christmas fun there. :D Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. 


	8. Story 8

For Cid Highwind, the best place to take a nap is in the theater with Loveless playing and Shera as a pillow. Cid x Shera.

Fantastic

Fantasy 08: A Little Nap

He took her to the theatre on an improvised plan. He knew she might like to watch that play, even if he didn't really like it. He looked around the audience curious to see if anyone known to them was there. He spotted a blonde head next to a head of dark hair. Next to them he could see many more heads like those, the rest of their bodies hidden behind the seats. Black, brown, blonde, black, blonde, black, red, red, red, silver, silver, silver, silver, blonde, none, blonde; he found that her shoulder was very comfortable and drifted off into peaceful slumber.

She felt his head on her shoulder becoming heavier as he lost all conscious thoughts and ran away to dream land. Of course, she knew he would escape to that place. His body was there but his mind was far away, soaring in the skies, she guessed. His breaths where even, expression satisfied, he must be having a nice dream and she didn't have the heart to take it away.

Eventually her shoulder fell asleep and she shifted in her seat to wake it. Then his head slipped off her shoulder, but she caught him on time and allowed him to continue sleeping half on her lap and half on his seat. She wasn't sure why the movement didn't wake him. Maybe his dream was so good he had to hold on to it.

When Cid woke up he thought he was at home back in Rocket Town and Shera was interrupting his sleep because dinner was ready. He didn't realize he was in Midgar, in a theatre and Shera was waking him up because the play had ended. He yawned loudly and stretched, then found her staring back at him, soon after realizing his head was on her lap.

For how long had she sat there? A split second passed and Cid realized that the ceiling was not familiar and the murmurs of people around them did not belong in the situation he had initially assumed he was in. Well, it wouldn't be the first time he fell asleep during Loveless.

End of Fantasy 08

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. 


	9. Story 9

This little drabble is based on Crisis Core and it might not make sense unless you catch the references to the game. Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core.

Fantastic

Fantasy 09: Lost Letters

She gave a sigh and picked up her pen, glaring at the paper she dropped it once more. She got up, walked around her room and touched her long brown hair. Her hand felt the soft texture of a pink ribbon, a gift from him that she dared not take off. With a deep breath she sat before the empty sheet of paper once more and wrote a letter, her last letter.

Her tone was cheerful, as much as she could muster, but he was warned that this would be the last letter she wrote to him. Some would say a hundred unanswered letters were a sign of desperation and the inability to move on. Just to be sure she wasn't holding on to someone who didn't want to hold her, she lowered that number to ninety and set her limit at eighty-nine. This was her last letter, her last hope, her final luxury, her one wish.

Sealing the envelope and addressing it, a thought occurred to her, "now I only have twenty-two... No, twenty-three, always twenty-three."

End of Fantasy 09 


	10. Story 10

The Turks spend a weekend in a snowy mountain cabin. That means snowball fights, hot chocolate, cookies and all that stuff. TsengxElena.

Fantastic

Fantasy 10: Snow and Turks

The air was very cold as small snowflakes began to fall. It was winter and the skies were gray signaling the coming of more snow. "Drop it," Elena could see her breath when she spoke.

Reno looked at her. At this distance if she decided to fire her weapon he would be a goner for sure. "You're not gonna do it." Reno spoke with a certainty that made his partner wonder if he knew what kind of situation they were dealing with.

The Turks were divided. This was the final battle between Tseng and Elena against Reno and Rude. It had all started because of Reno. He began the argument with Tseng and the leader defended his point to no end, until Reno lost his patience and went for the attack. Elena remembered it clearly. She tried to warn Tseng but it was too late. Tseng was quick to recover and although he was injured he fought back. The teams were decided then as the other two Turks quickly chose sides. Elena rushed to aid Tseng while Rude prepared to help Reno.

"You can be sure I'll do it!" Elena threatened. She gripped her weapon noticing something. There was a problem.

"Didn't notice that little detail did you? You would have gotten me good with that one but you hesitated. That was your problem." Reno then attacked Tseng. Tseng moved out of the way at the last moment leaving Reno to miss by a hair. "We need more ammunition partner!"

"I'm working on it," Rude answered as he prepared the weapons to be used. Of course, there was plenty of fire power to go around or should I say ice.

"Now I wish I had fired when I had the chance." Deep down Elena knew she didn't mean it. This had to end as peacefully as possible, not with someone gravely injured or dead. But then there was Tseng. Reno attacked him by surprise. Maybe she really should have paid him back the same way. Elena shook her head. No, though Reno had injured Tseng, it wasn't the same kind of injury she would have given him had she taken the opportunity. This would have been real.

"Good to know I'll watch my back," Reno joked. That tone indicated that he had a plan. Rude had everything set up.

"Ready," the man who always has sunglasses called.

"Begin fire!" Reno joined Rude in the battle position.

"Tseng!" Elena called. She suddenly froze up. What could she do? How could they get the best weapons? Rude and Reno had the clear advantage.

"Get ready Elena! If we must go we'll go together," Tseng hugged her protecting her from the ammunition directed at them.

"Tseng!" He was gone. "You'll pay for this!" In rage Elena ran past Reno and Rude. She was hit several times but didn't stop. Rolling on the ground she managed to trip Reno and grab the weapon he guarded.

"Don't do it Elena!" Rude held his weapon ready.

"If I go, I'm taking Reno with me to avenge Tseng!" Both fired at the same time and it all ended. This time Rude was the only survivor.

"This fight has ended," Rude declared victoriously.

Reno jumped to his feet. "I'm freezing!"

"I have snow in my hair!" Elena tried to brush it off.

"It's only snow so I'm not complaining," Tseng added.

"You know Elena, in a real battle you can't go rushing in like that. I was able to shoot you seven times. You would have been killed before you reached the bomb which by the way was freezing," Reno complained.

"It's a snow ball fight not a water balloon fight," Elena clarified, for the guns of the Turks were snow balls all along. No real injuries happened; they just got a little wet and cold from the snow balls. "You cheated with that water balloon." Reno's bomb, a water balloon, was his secret weapon for the snow ball fight. "You also cheated before that by attacking Tseng before the battle officially began." That is why Tseng had to be 'injured' during the entire fight but he sill played along.

"At least I proved my point that a snow ball fight was a good idea." Reno would rethink his words soon after when Tseng showered him with snow.

"That's for attacking me too soon," Tseng took his revenge.

"No fair! I'm going to turn into a cherry popsicle!" Reno complained shivering. The other Turks only laughed. "Hey Elena do you really wish you left that rock inside your snow ball?"

"I won't sink to your level and cheat. I didn't know the rock was there until you told me," Elena explained.

"Hey it's not like I threw any rocks. In fact, I didn't get to use my water balloon because you stole it. How could I be killed by my own secret weapon?" Reno dramatized.

"Let's head back inside before we all catch colds. You know how that can get," Tseng reminded them. "If one of us catches a cold and someone else always gets it. Then by the time the first is cured, the second still has the cold and has given it to a third person who gives it so someone else. Then by the time the second is cured the third and forth still have a cold. There's always at least one of us with a cold to spread."

The Turks nodded in agreement. "That's just how we are. We're best friends who share everything, even colds." Reno thought it was amusing now, but it wouldn't be so funny if they really did get sick.

The four headed back inside the mountain cabin they were vacationing in. It had four rooms, a living room, a kitchen and two bathrooms. Elena had claimed a bathroom to herself saying it was only fair to have one bathroom for women and one for men. That left Tseng, Reno and Rude to share a bathroom.

"Me first!" Reno ran in an attempt to reach the bathroom first but he tripped on something.

Soon the something moved while Reno was still on the snowy ground. "Get off me." A voice came from under the snow.

"Rude give me a hand. There's someone here!" Reno called.

Rude quickly helped his partner stand up and assisted him in digging in the snow to see who was buried there. "Who are you?" Rude asked the figure covered in snow.

"Maybe he's a snow angel" Elena said half joking and half hopeful. Even if she liked Tseng she had to admit whoever it was would certainly make a handsome snow angel.

"I am Vincent Valentine." He shook off the snow to reveal his true self.

"What were you doing there? Taking a nap?" Reno inquired.

"Yes," Vincent spoke as if it was the most normal thing ever.

"You were taking a nap under the snow?" Rude asked.

"Yes," Vincent replied just as casually as before.

"Why?" Elena asked.

"Everyone needs to sleep," Vincent answered as a matter of fact.

"Not everyone sleeps under snow," Tseng pointed out.

Vincent nodded. "True but where a man takes his naps is up to him to decide and no one else." After saying those words of wisdom Vincent left.

A few moments passed in silence until Reno remembered something. "The bathroom!" The race was on, ending with Tseng as the winner, Rude arrived in second place and Reno slipped and got there last.

Elena smiled. She didn't have to childishly run because she had a bathroom all to herself or so she thought. By the time she got to the cabin she found the door to her bathroom was locked. The sound of a shower and singing could be heard coming from inside. Elena knocked. "What are you doing in there?"

"Watching movies and eating popcorn what do you think I'm doing?" Reno answered from inside the bathroom.

"This is the women's bathroom and I'm the only woman here so get out!" Elena yelled but Reno only sang louder.

Rude stood to the side waiting for one of the bathrooms to become free for use. Frustrated with knocking on the door and being ignored Elena turned to face him. "Tell him to come out of there!"

Rude felt that he had no choice. "Reno, Elena wants me to tell you to come out of there."

"Tell her that I'll come out when I'm good and ready." Reno answered from inside the bathroom.

Rude tried to communicate the message. "Reno says that he'll come out when he's-"

"I heard him!" Elena interrupted. "Reno, come out of there right now!" She screamed as she punched the door.

"Now I'll stay even longer!" Reno was easily amused.

Rude only shook his head. A few moments later Tseng opened the other bathroom's door only a little bit. "Rude, could you hand me my-"

"Mine!" Elena said as she rushed to the bathroom, assuming Tseng was done. She threw the door open and slipped on a little bathroom carpet. Trying desperately to regain her balance before falling, Elena grabbed the doorknob unintentionally closing the door and falling forward.

Seeing that she would inevitably fall, Tseng caught Elena. But in order to do so he had to let go of the towel he was holding to make sure it stayed around his waist. A scream shortly followed. You see Tseng had forgotten to bring a change of clothes and was about to ask Rude to go get some clothes from his room so he wouldn't have to go out in only a towel in case Elena saw him and felt uncomfortable.

"Ok I'm done!" Reno cheerfully announced coming out of the bathroom. "Hey partner what did I miss?"

"I'm not certain," Rude replied honestly.

"I thought I heard Elena scream." When Reno, as if on cue, the door to the other bathroom was opened.

Elena came out staring at her feet with her face a bright red color that rivaled the color of Reno's hair. Tseng's face was a matching color as he stood there with only a towel. Reno opened his mouth to say something but before any sound came out Elena gave him a deadly glare. "Don't you dare ask." She stomped towards the other bathroom silently promising herself that later she would either take revenge on Reno or thank him since none of that would have happened if he stayed out of her bathroom.

Tseng rushed to his room leaving a certain red haired Turks very confused. "What did I miss?"

"I told you I'm not certain. My theory is that he dropped the towel on accident at some point in time while Elena was alone with him in the bathroom. There's no way to know since the door was closed," Rude explained. He knew Reno wouldn't stop asking until he satisfied his curiosity.

"I knew a lot of interesting things would happen on this vacation!" Reno laughed.

Despite Tseng and Elena's embarrassing moment the Turks, at Reno's request, decided to involve themselves in activities 'proper of the Christmas season'. To everyone's surprise Rude suggested baking cookies. When the initial surprise died down, Reno happily accepted the idea. Tseng and Elena, who were too embarrassed to speak, only nodded.

But alas the cookie baking process turned into a battle once again started by Reno. The Turks ended up covered in cookie dough. "Don't ever try this again or you'll be spending the rest of the weekend sleeping out in the cold." Tseng wasn't amused. He accepted the snow ball fight and played along but he wasn't in the best of moods at the moment. He wondered if he would ever be able to look at Elena in the face without reliving that awkward moment and if she would ever speak to him again. Besides, it would take ages to clean out the cookie dough off his hair. Elena had shorter hair, Rude was bald and Reno didn't really care.

"It was just a little joke. It was fun," Reno was still in a good mood. He had been more playful than usual during their little vacation trip. "Besides, Lena can lick it off for you."

"It's Elena not Lena," Elena corrected sounding annoyed.

"Funny how you corrected your name but didn't comment on the part about licking the cookie dough off Tseng," Reno whispered as he passed by, meaning for only Elena and Rude to hear. Tseng also heard and gave him a warning glare. Reno wisely decided to choose that moment to go get cleaned up and left the kitchen in a hurry.

Rude felt the tension in the atmosphere and decided to leave as well. He would wait until Reno was done cleaning himself up. The earlier drama started because both bathrooms were occupied at the same time so now he would make sure to leave one free in case Elena wanted to clean off the cookie dough.

"I'm sorry, sir." Elena spoke softly while staring at the floor as soon as she was alone with Tseng.

"It was an accident," Tseng didn't say anything about it, but he wasn't happy that she was calling him sir again like when she first joined the Turks.

She nodded as they drowned in an uncomfortable silence.

"We should clean ourselves up," Tseng finally said.

"Right," Elena agreed. But the silence was longer than they thought as they tried to wait each other out. By then Reno had sang quite the concert while he took another shower, much to Rude's annoyance who was waiting outside the door. He certainly wished someone would get the bright idea to make bathrooms sound proof.

By the time night fell, the awkwardness appeared to have evaporated inexplicably quickly. Maybe it's because Reno had stopped his jokes, a wise decision, and nothing had happened to fuel it. The four Turks sat in front of a fire drinking hot chocolate as the wind howled outside and the snow fell around the cabin. All was silence save for Reno.

"Reno, drink your hot chocolate quietly!" Elena scolded.

Reno was about to reply with something along the lines of 'yes, mother' but he came up with something more clever. "You'd think she'd be in a better mood after having an affair," Reno saw the look Tseng was giving him and added, "with a delicious cup of hot chocolate." Then the silence returned.

"We should put up a Christmas tree." Elena suddenly suggested. "I used to put one up every year when there was no one home and I decorated it all by myself. I always liked putting up the tree alone but it might be even better if all the Turks participate." She didn't particularly enjoy her sister's presence, not even in the holydays which is why she decorated the tree by herself. Besides, she didn't need Gun's criticism.

"Do I get to put the star on the tree?" Reno asked.

"No," Elena firmly decided.

"Do we even have a tree?" Rude brought up an important point.

"Probably not," Elena realized. "Maybe we could get one. I saw some trees not too far from here."

"We'll choose a tree tomorrow," Tseng agreed.

The night passed rather uneventfully and soon the next morning came. It was only a weekend vacation but they might as well do something Christmasy before it ended. Of course finding a tree to decorate didn't go without incident.

Reno climbed a tree. Rude tried to climb after him but encountered some difficulties with a bird that had a nest in the tree and didn't like unknown humans. Oddly enough the bird had no complaints about Reno. Rude assumed the bird must have thought Reno was a squirrel neighbor or something. After he was done climbing, Reno came back to the ground and claimed that he wanted to decorate that tree which was of course too big.

Elena found a tree of suitable size but soon Rude brought up another interesting point. They didn't really have any decorations. Tseng decided to rest sitting on a rock. Elena sat on another rock not too far away. Reno was no where to be found and Rude went to look for him.

When Reno retuned he started putting improvised decorations on the tree even if the wind would probably blow them away. Rude started helping with the decorations. Elena wondered where Reno got all that paper but didn't give it much thought and started putting paper stars on the tree as well. Finally Tseng joined them. He never found out that Reno had cut some reports he found in his room to make decorations.

Another snow ball fight took place that day in which surprisingly all the rules were followed. That time Tseng and Elena claimed a victory.

The day passed quickly and surprisingly peacefully as all four Turks got along perfectly. "Remember last year when we got snowed in?" Reno recalled.

The Turks were still outside enjoying their free time building snowmen after their snow ball fight ended. It was their time to play in the snow as much as they wanted now that no one would find out. "I said you weren't coming this year. I must have forgotten," Tseng remembered.

Elena wasn't a Turk yet at the time. "He must have been annoying."

"No I wasn't. Besides you weren't there." Reno stuck out his tongue.

"Lucky me," Elena retorted.

"Reno with cabin fever is not a good thing," Rude agreed.

"You have to admit these little Turks vacations aren't the same without me!" The others certainly didn't argue with Reno on that.

Soon the weekend ended and it was back to Shinra with them. Things drifted back into normality but one thing was for sure. They would do this again next year and the year after that and the year after that and so on.

As Reno arrived at work the next day, the first words the other Turks heard from him that day were: "I can't wait for summer vacation!" Watching Tseng and Elena discuss something related to their work Reno whispered to Rude. "I bet those two will get together soon."

"Probably," Rude agreed.

"I say... February," Reno guessed.

"March," Rude deduced.

"You're on!" Reno accepted the bet a little too loudly. Tseng and Elena looked in their direction but didn't figure out what it was about. In the end they both lost the bet, since Tseng and Elena actually got together on New Year's Eve.

End of Fantasy 10

Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. Why am I posting a Christmas story in the middle of the summer? Because now is when the plot bunnies poke and I don't feel like waiting until Christmas. 


	11. Story 11

Shinra has gone into the fast food business and is giving away collectible action figures with each purchase of the 'Chibi Shinra Meal'. Will Reno collect them all?

Fantastic

Fantasy 11: Shinra Burger

Reno and Rude were happily walking towards a fast food place. They entered the cheerful colored building and took in the scent of the not nutritious yet extremely delicious junk food. Pictures of the Turks, ex-Turks, Soldiers and ex-Soldiers adorned the walls and there was a life size cardboard Rufus near the service counter. There was a plastic box attached to it as if he was holding it in front of him. In the box there were several little action figures.

Everything was well for the Turks though Reno wished for something exciting to happen. For him peace and quiet equaled boredom. As they approached the counter to buy their food Reno's whispered something in Rude's ear. "Don't forget to buy the you know what."

With a heavy sight and slightly shaking his head, Rude made the order. "Two orders of hamburgers with fries and large sodas and a... that thing" Rude felt a bit embarrassed.

The girl taking the orders looked at him confused. "What thing?" She wondered what he wanted. "A salad?"

"No I mean... that little toy thing," Rude replied quietly.

"Oh! You want to order a toy too!" The overly cheerful ninja girl spoke loud enough for everyone there to hear. She then looked around as if trying to find a child.

"No kids here. It's just that Rude loves those toys," Reno cheerfully said.

Rude laughed nervously and Yuffie smiled amused. They got their order and paid for it then went to sit down and eat. "Thank you Yuffie," Rude's voice held a clear hint of sarcasm.

Yuffie shrugged and continued her job with the next customer. She never thought she would be working for Shinra but at least Shinra Burger didn't suck the life out of the planet. Barret argued that it instead sucked the life out of the paying customers but what fast food place didn't? It was perfectly normal and the materia stealing business had been low so Yuffie took the job.

Once at a table Reno and Rude started eating. Curious so see what toy he got, Reno reached into the colorful little box and pulled out a tiny Vincent. "Look Rude! I got a Vincent action figure! Now I just need Sephiroth and I'll have all of them. That Sephiroth is hard to find. Maybe Yuffie has one. Do you think she'll trade it for a materia? A toy materia I mean." Reno had a few repeated materias so he won't mind trading. In fact he would even throw in a two for on deal since Sephiroth was the last one he needed to complete the collection.

"She probably will and next time buy your own toys," Rude replied.

"Aw c'mon it just doesn't go with my cool guy image." Reno had thought of a plan B in case Rude got tired of buying his toys. He thought it would be a good moment to show his partner that he sometimes did plan ahead. "I could just offer to baby-sit Marlene and Denzel and bring them here. Then I'll buy toys and everyone will think it's for them."

"You'll have to convince Tifa and Cloud to let you baby-sit first and besides wouldn't they want to keep the toys?" Rude asked.

"I'll buy three and say the third one is for some other kid they adopted who couldn't come that day," Reno grinned victoriously at his genius plan. The two Turks continued their meals until Reno noticed someone at a table near by. "Rude look! Vincent's here! What a coincidence that the day I get a Vincent toy the real Vincent happens to be here. He used to be a Turk you know."

"Yes, you have told me several times before," Rude reminded.

Suddenly a random girl pointed at Vincent and said. "Vincent is a vampire!" Everyone stopped eating to stare at him. He was one of the available action figures after all. He didn't exactly give his consent to that, but didn't do anything to stop Rufus either.

"I'm not a vampire" Vincent said calmly trying to ignore the fact that everyone was staring at him while their food got cold in the freezing air conditioner of Shinra Burger.

"Yes you are! You look like a vampire, you dress like a vampire and you have blood in your mouth. That's proof enough! Who did you bite? Are you still hungry? Bite me next!" The crazy fangirl squealed.

"Security!" Yuffie's voice was suddenly heard all over the restaurant. "Code red on table five, I repeat code red on table five!"

Suddenly Tseng and Elena came out of the kitchen. "I can't believe we got the Shinra Burger mission today," Elena complained.

"It helps with the publicity," Tseng tried to console her. That's what Rufus had told him. Having real the Turks in the kitchen would certainly help the business since the sales for their 'Chibi Shinra Meals' with collectable action figures were going great.

Rufus decided that Tseng and Elena would be the best team for the job since Reno might start goofing off in the kitchen and burn down the restaurant or somehow convince Rude to have an eating contest with him. No one knew how but Reno could get Rude to do almost anything sometimes. But what really made Rufus make that decision were Reno's countless attempts of trying to convince Rufus to give him the collectible action figures. Of course, Rufus had said time and again that those were for the paying customers and if Reno wanted them he had to buy a 'Chibi Shinra Meal'.

"But then everyone will know I'm collecting them," Reno had complained.

To that Rufus simply answered "be proud to purchase Shinra products" and that had been the end of the discussion.

"Step away from the paying customer" Elena said pointing a gun at the crazy fangirl.

Tseng stood at the other side cornering the fangirl also pointing a gun at her. "We're going to have to ask you to take your order to go."

"But I want Vincent to bite me. He's a vampire look at the blood in his mouth!" The girl protested.

"The only things that people are allowed to bite in this building are the food products that they purchased here," Elena insisted.

"It's just ketchup" Vincent explained. "They don't give us enough napkins."

The fangirl stood there embarrassed as everyone stared at her. "The service here stinks I'm never coming back unless Vincent admits that he's a vampire!" Unable to take it any longer she ran away leaving the echo of a high pitched squeal behind.

"Nice work!" Reno gave Tseng and Elena a thumbs up.

Elena was not in the best of moods that day. "Reno, you have the right to chew with your mouth closed. If you refuse that right your food will fall out of your mouth and I will shoot you." Without giving Reno the chance to reply she went back to the kitchen with Tseng following.

"I wonder why we didn't get this job?" It would make it a lot easier for Reno to find his missing action figures if he worked there.

"Here you go Vinnie, you should have told me you needed another napkin. I was told it was one per customer but I'll make an exception for you." There stood Yuffie with a handful of napkins.

Vincent's gaze went from Yuffie to the napkins and back to Yuffie. Then he discretely looked around. Everyone was looking at them from the corner of their eyes because they didn't get any extra napkins. He didn't like it when people stared at him like that. "...thank you."

"You're welcome!" Yuffie cheered. Then she returned to the service counter where several hungry customers were waiting in line.

When the next day came and Rude refused to visit Shinra Burger, instead deciding to go to Shinra Pizza, Reno was forced to carry out plan B. As much as he liked pizza they didn't have the action figures there. Pizzerias should also give out toys like burger fast food places did. Reno would bring up the idea to Rufus as soon as he saw him.

It looked like Lady Luck was on Reno's side that day, even if she was known for changing her mind quite often. Asking Tifa if he could take Marlene and Denzel to Shinra Burger was a lot easier then he thought. After several dates in which they had to bring the kids along, Cloud and Tifa needed some alone time. Of course, Cloud had been quite clear with Reno. "If anything happens to Marlene or Denzel my sword and I will torture you in such a way that you will wish Sephiroth had destroyed the planet and you along with it."

Reno agreed, it would just be a quiet lunch at Shinra Burger and it was, until Denzel accidentally fired ketchup at Marlene while he was trying to open the little plastic ketchup bag. He kept trying to put ketchup on his fries as if he didn't notice the bag had burst open on the other side and the ketchup was now on Marlene. While Reno was too busy concentrating in opening his mouth big enough to be able to take a bite of his oversized burger, Marlene returned fire. Soon it turned into a mini food fight between the two kids who where actually behaving like little kids today. The children were usually more mature with the geostigma situation and all that had happened, but now that it was all solved they could just be kids.

After chewing and swallowing the first big bite and before taking another, Reno noticed the mini food fight taking place on their table. "Stop that, yo!" Of course he was ignored and soon his face was decorated by bright red ketchup to match the color of his hair. He shrugged, a little fun never hurt. "Food fight!"

Thinking it was all part of the entertainment since it had been a Turk who made the announcement, many of the customers of the full restaurant started throwing food in hopes of winning some kind of prize from Shinra. Reno joined in while Marlene and Denzel wondered if they should blame themselves or Reno for the food fight that was taking place, either way they participated too.

Yuffie watched the war take place from the counter. She dodged several biscuits heading in her direction before jumping over the counter and joining in. She held fries in her hands as if they where kunais and started throwing them hitting all her targets, unfortunate random customers, with perfect accuracy.

As the food fight took place, Vincent innocently wandered into Shinra Burger. They did make really good junk food and he was trying to get with the times and eat what people ate those days. He had been sleeping in a coffin for too long. A plastic glass flew over his head loosing its plastic cover and dumping its contents on his head. Now his hair had Pepsi in it, complete with ice and a straw. Vincent wanted to leave but first he searched for Yuffie. He saw her and it looked like she was having fun. Maybe this was a recreational activity that he should also try. He had decided to be open to new things.

Tseng and Elena heard the commotion and emerged from the kitchen still in their kitchen gear which they had removed before coming out the day before. Besides the matching aprons, Tseng was wearing a bandana with the words 'kiss the cook' written on it. He had lipstick on his face of a suspiciously similar color to the lipstick Elena was wearing. Suddenly a loud 'bang' was heard silencing all other sounds in the restaurant. A cheeseburger fell on the floor with a burnt hole right in the middle and a couple of feet from the unfortunate cheeseburger stood a very angry looking Elena. "I'm not going to clean this!" With that said she threw her apron on the floor and walked out of the restaurant. Tseng took off his apron forgetting about the bandana and followed her. He never thought he would have to protect Rufus from one of his team but as angry as Elena was, it looked like that's what Tseng would need to do.

It was then that Yuffie noticed Vincent's presence. "Hey Vinnie join us!" She was standing on a table extending her hand to him.

Vincent approached, took her hand and climbed on the table. "What should I do?"

"Throw food at everyone, except me of course," Yuffie answered. "Let the food fight continue!"

Later, the night after the food fight had ended, it was Rude who turned out to be the unfortunate soul who got sent to clean up the mess. The other Shinra employees were scattered all over the globe taking care of other fast food restaurants and so Rufus' Turks and a few other people he hired were left to take care of the local places. Yuffie was fired. As Rude stared at the mess not knowing where to start, he spotted a little Sephiroth action figure someone dropped. Reno had mentioned that he got another one of himself that day while Marlene and Denzel got Tseng and Elena, which Reno also had so no trade offers took place. Rude didn't know who dropped that Sephiroth there, but he did know one thing, he wouldn't be the one cleaning that mess tonight.

End of Fantasy 11

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. 


	12. Story 12

Fantastic

Fantasy 12: Chocobo

When Elena arrived at the Turks' office that morning, the first thing she noticed was the chocobo pecking at random paper work. The second thing she noticed, which was somehow more surprising than the chocobo, was that Reno was already there, before her, it was unbelievable. She quickly made the connection between Reno and the chocobo, because it had to be his doing, who else could it be? She concluded this, not only because Reno was the only one there, but because she couldn't imagine Rude or Tseng bringing a chocobo to work. Elena had eventually learned that Reno was the Turk who was most likely to do something out of the ordinary, such as bringing a chocobo to the office. She decided that she would not humor Reno and simply ignored the chocobo and its playful warks.

"Good morning," Elena politely said her usual greeting as if she were completely oblivious the big yellow animal's presence.

"Morning Elena!" Reno noted that Elena did not ask about the chocobo. It couldn't be that she missed it, a bird big enough to carry a man could not be easily missed, especially if said bird was noisily chirping a loud wark. Well Reno wasn't going to mention the chocobo if Elena didn't ask so it was left at that.

Rude soon arrived at the office. He was usually earlier than this. He immediately noticed the chocobo, which could not go unnoticed. Elena was calmly working on some papers, or at least she made it look that way. She was a Turk but so was he, so he could tell if she was hiding something and he knew she was full of questions about the chocobo, ready to burst if she didn't ask; but she didn't. Rude was usually quiet and today wasn't the exception. The sat down at his desk to work on that boring old paper work and remained quiet, only nodding as a greeting.

Tseng had a meeting with Rufus that morning and was the last to arrive at the Turks' office. He wasn't sure what was worse, a boring meeting first thing in the morning or a finding a chocobo pecking at random things in the office, and no one doing anything to stop it. "Reno," it was his first thought, the most obvious one.

"Yes, sir?" Reno tried to fake innocence.

"Why is there a chocobo in the office?" Tseng asked, looking cool, calm and collected.

"It followed me to work and I thought the Turks needed a pet, er... mascot." The chocobo had somehow gotten a hold of a marker and was now scribbling on the walls, the Shinra property walls.

Tseng looked towards Rude who shook his head. He looked towards Elena who mimicked the gesture. Right, this week it was Tseng's turn to make sure Reno didn't do something he shouldn't do. There have not been any really interesting missions lately. Boredom and Reno, simply do not mix.

End of Fantasy 12

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII.


	13. Story 13

Fantastic

Fantasy 13: Lost Time

A waste of time, a waste of his very precious time; that is what it was... But he sold his time to Shinra for some gil so he had to waste it in whatever way he was told, even if he rather not. He was supposed to get there, press a button then leave. His lunch break would start soon and he didn't want to waste it in that place. He had a strict personal policy about not working when he was on break. There was interference but the mission was accomplished, yet time was lost, along with so much more...

End of Fantasy 13

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. 


	14. Story 14

Fantastic

Fantasy 14: Regret

The way Barett kept muttering something about guilt and regret without actually saying it directly; was starting to bother the person whom it was not meant to bother, Tifa. Meanwhile, Reno continued playing the role of a good little customer, happily drinking at the bar, occasionally asking Tifa for a refill. The redhead was blissfully unaware of the fact that Barett's comments were directed at him, and simply assumed the man with the arm gun was performing the ritual known as drowning away the sorrows.

Tifa cleared her throat, in an obvious sign of irritation. Not wanting to deal with a bartender who was unwilling to give him more alcohol than was healthy, even if it was his problem anyway not hers, Reno placed some gil on the counter in the form of a generous tip, not that Tifa intended to deny him the liquid goods anyway. She wiped the bar, even if it was already clean; and burned Barett's forehead with her gaze as he stared into his half full, or half empty, glass. Reno continued being blissfully unaware that Barett's comments were directed at him, and also blissfully drunk.

At the end of his patience, Barett decided to speak to Reno directly. "Don't you regret it?"

"Huh?" Reno blinked and tried to figure out what Barett was talking about. Might as well be sympatric, then maybe his unwilling duty as a bar buddy would end before Barett decided to recite his life story, and Reno would be left alone to focus on creating a lot of profit for the Seventh Heaven. "It's regrettable yes..." It was the most obvious fact, that Reno has no idea what he was talking about. Barett saw that, Tifa saw it, the whole bar noticed, and the bartender sighed predicting an inevitable argument.

"You... you don't regret it at all!" Barret was annoyed of course, yet after having his past kindly shoved in his face by a wise robotic cat, he had learned not to complain too much about the outcome that he in part provoked.

"It's not my fault, yo! It's not my fault you got dumped by whoever for whatever..." Reno closed his eyes and pushed any and all coherent thoughts out of his head. He had paid good gil for the state he was in and he intended to keep it, at least until it was time to go home.

"That's not it!" It was a classic drown your sorrows excuse, yet that wasn't it, Barret was simply remembering the past and wishing to hear something he knew he wouldn't, something that he wouldn't say if the tables were turned, even if Tifa already had spoken those words in response to the accusations of the cat; regret. "It's about the plate, about Sector Seven! Do you regret that?"

Reno was no longer the drunken sleepy-head he was a split second, with a loose grip around his glass, and half closed eyes. Right now he was wide awake, gripping his glass so tightly it could almost shatter and with an energetic yet carefree spark in his eyes. "I regret that you weren't under it when it fell, because you just made me sober!" Why couldn't people learn to stop talking to him when he was drinking? Reno possessed the blessing and the curse, to somehow become sober at a moment's notice, even if he didn't want to. Now all the gil he spend on his drinks would go to waste with their effect severely shortened.

Barett opened his mouth to speak, but before any sounds came out, Tifa slammed a new glass in front of him, filled to the brim, splashing a few drops of the bronze colored liquid on the previously clean counter. Barett closed his mouth, paused, picked up the new glass ignoring his previous half full or half empty one, and drank. After drinking it all in one gulp, Barett proceeded to speak. "As long as you regret somethin', I guess that'll do." If it was the need to leave it all behind, or a massive amount of concentrated alcohol that brought about those words, Reno did not know and neither he nor Tifa cared as long as he could return to the task of becoming drunk without being bothered and she could maintain the peace of her bar without losing a profitable customer.

End of Fantasy 14

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. 


	15. Story 15

Before becoming Turks, Reno and Rude tried to sneak into the president's office. Rude was sure they would get caught, and Reno insisted that they wouldn't.

Fantasy 15: Saw it Coming

It was quiet and still, as dark inside as the night outside; and it was at times like this when Rude wondered how in the world Reno became his best friend. The two were quite different from each other. Rude was very quiet and Reno had no problems rambling away when ever he was bored. Rude was often seen with a serious expression while Reno was smiling or grinning most of the time, even in the mist of trouble.

Rude was sure that nothing good would come out of their current situation, yet somehow, Reno managed to talk him into it. There they were, sneaking into the Shinra building. "Reno..."

"No turning back!" They had miraculously gotten past security and where now actually inside. The problem was that camera set at an angle that was not currently filming them, but would if they made a move.

"This will only end badly..." Rude thought about turning back on his own, but he couldn't leave Reno, his best friend of so many years. Rude knew very well that Reno would jump into a bottomless pit after him in a foolish and suicidal attempt to save his life should Rude ever fall in first, and it was that kind of rash action that prompted Rude into staying out of trouble, so Reno wouldn't be dragged along.

For Reno it was different, he naturally attracted trouble and he actually enjoyed it. Bringing Rude along didn't feel like causing his best friend despair, it was about sharing the fun. "Relax, when was the last time we did something cool?"

"By your definition, this morning when you threw a water balloon at the major during his public speech," Rude wondered what Reno was planning to do with his life. They had joined Shinra together at a young age. Reno kept talking about being a Turk someday and Rude liked the idea so he decided to make it his goal as well, but he wondered if it would happen any time soon.

"That was great! He went retreating into the Shinra building and then Old Man Shinra took over." It's not like he had been caught, so from Reno's perspective everything was fine. Besides, he had been told countless times that being a Turk was a serious job, so he might as well joke around as much as possible while he still could.

Rude shook his head, "we're going to get caught." They had not advanced since they got to the area with the cameras. They were already a few floors past the level they were allowed in.

"We're not going to get caught," Reno tried to keep a positive outlook, or rather, he simply didn't care. He certainly hoped they didn't get caught, even if Rude was certain they would and he was almost always right. But if they did get caught, it wouldn't be the end of the world, and hopefully, not the end of their careers. "I have a plan."

Much to Rude's disappointment, Reno's plan consisted of wearing Shinra cadet helmets to hide their faces from the recording. Even if Rude was sure they would be caught, he played along.

Disregarding the watchful cameras, Reno and Rude made their way up the Shinra building, picking locks and taking advantage of stolen keycards, or borrowed as Reno would say. They decided to make the major of Midgar their victim again, breaking into his office and stealing his keycard to go further up.

The two best friends, continued to climb the building until they reached the top, and realized that the major's keycards could take them no further. The last lock, the one leading to their goal, the place where they wanted to leave their victorious mark, required a key.

Reno looked towards Rude, both of them still wearing helmets.

"Pick it," even if Rude was still certain that one way or another they would get caught, and Reno was still hopeful that they wouldn't, they have come too far. They were a mere few feet away from their goal, to make a chaotic mess in the president's office that would inevitably convince him that his security needed an upgrade. If the president thought that anyone could sneak in and take his life, he would want to have more Turks, and the Turk candidates' chances for a promotion would increase.

"That's the spirit!" Reno started working on the lock. The redhead felt that nothing could go wrong, and his accomplice became certain that something would.

With a click, the outdated lock gave in and the door to the president's office was open. Reno confidently walked inside, while Rude felt like he was being watched. Then, the lights went on and the two intruders froze.

A man in a navy suit approached them while a woman in the same uniform moved away from her position near the light switch and looked out the door. She shook her head indicating that there was no one else out there and closed it.

Two other Turks stood left and right from president Shinra who had stayed in his office late plotting how to gain more control over Midgar. The incident with the major and the water balloon was actually quite beneficial towards the president's plan to make the major look like a coward.

All four Turks were armed and ready to fight the two mysterious intruders. "Take off the helmets," the president ordered.

The Turk that stood closest to them received the two helmets as Reno and Rude revealed their identities. "Traitors!"

"It's no like that!" Reno tried to defend himself and Rude, he tried to think of an excuse, but the situation looked pretty accusing. "We were just testing the security system, isn't it our duty?"

The president took a moment to think about this then reached a decision. "Starting tomorrow, you two are in my main team of Turks."

End of Fantasy 15

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. Written for Snow's "Saw it Coming" challenge, someone is hopeful that something won't happen and someone is sure it will. 


	16. Story 16

Fantastic

Fantasy 16: Kiss the Girl

He was a handsome young man and she was an exotic older woman. This is the story of the kiss that never happened. (Crack-fic, just for laughs.)

When he first saw her he couldn't turn away. It was natural of course; she was a rarity, not an average woman at all. Her body was femininely shaped with perfect curves and there was something very special about that look in her eyes. She was fascinating in every way, but that didn't mean he liked her, goodness no.

She was an older woman, she was foreign, and she was completely out of reach. Yet that one time, be it by a drunken stupor or sheer curiosity, he had approached her and almost kissed her.

No one knew if he did it in a rebellious act to spite his father and his outdated friends, or maybe he was simply responding to the challenge of his so called ally who was, with no doubts, taking advantage of his drunken state in hopes of obtaining a good show and maybe even some prized blackmail.

It never happened; his father's friend arrived and took the lady away, guarding her jealously. At the time, he had scoffed and threatened to leave the old man jobless or lifeless in the near future.

The next morning, upon realizing his grave mistake, he instead threatened to leave his so called ally jobless and lifeless and changed his mind about firing the old man. He did not fulfill the threat upon his comrade, but he never fully forgave his so called protector who had nearly doomed him and he swore never to taste alcohol again.

If he had ever been thankful to Hojo for anything, it would be for stopping him that night. If he had ever hated Reno for anything, it would be for daring him to kiss Jenova; and to this day Rufus Shinra still shudders at the thought of what he almost did.

End of Fantasy 16

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. Snow and Cherri posted a list of weird couples just for the fun of it and I decided to do it too. One of the couples I posted was RufusxJenova, as crazy as they come. It made Hikou laugh so I decided to elaborate it into a crack drabble. 


	17. Story 17

Fantastic

Fantasy 17: Gratitude

"You killed them..." My tone is devoid of emotion, almost indifferent.

He gives me a puzzled look. "You'll have to be more specific."

"Of course you don't know. The statistics might give people some numbers, but can anyone ascertain beyond a doubt how many people were sent to the life stream when the plate fell, or rather when you dropped it?"

"It would be hard to keep count." He seems to be indifferent to the gun I'm aiming at him, as if he's cocky enough to think he can dodge a bullet at point blank, or survive the hit and take me down first.

"Certain people that I knew were there. It was not were I lived, but certain people were there..."

"And now you want revenge? You wouldn't be the first." The Turks must be used to this, I'm sure.

I approach, he eyes the gun. I take another step and he kicks the weapon of my hand; but before he can catch it I tackle him in a kiss.

The gun lands on the street, making a loud noise in the silence of the night, but fortunately it doesn't fire off on impact. I part from him and note his confused look.

I walk away a few steps and retrieve my weapon. I only look back once and say "thank you," before disappearing into the night. Some people are better off being sent to the life stream.

End of Fantasy 17

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. 


	18. Story 18

After the Nibelheim disaster, Reno is assigned to transport the injured Zack back to Shinra Headquarters.

Fantastic

Fantasy 18: Noble

Their paths had crossed once or twice before but each time it had been in silence. The Turk walked by on his way to work, passing next to the Soldier. They did not know what the other's business was and neither asked. The red haired man simply walked past, minding his own business. The dark haired man looked up as if to acknowledge the presence of another person but said nothing when his gaze was not met. It happened a few times, once, twice, maybe more than that, the Turk didn't remember. He had no business with the Soldiers and information in Shinra was given out in a need to know basis.

xoxox xox xoxox

When the Nibelheim incident occurred, many lives were lost including one of a legendary Soldier, or so they had thought at the time. Everything was in chaos, Shinra was out to cover up the catastrophe as fast as possible and the Turks were immediately sent on a special mission.

As soon as he landed the helicopter near the ruins of the burnt down Nibelheim, Shinra soldiers were already loading it with what few valuable things could be saved, that is valuable from Shinra's point of view.

Rude and Tseng who had been riding on the helicopter were now outside getting the latest report of the situation from a Shinra soldier. Another helicopter landed near by. Inside were Gun, Cissnei and someone else. Reno, knew all the Turks but he didn't have time to identify the other person before a half-dead man was placed on his helicopter.

"Take him to Shinra Headquarters, they're expecting him. Return as soon as possible," Tseng said.

"Got it!" As soon as Tseng cleared the way, Reno took off. From the air he looked down at Nibelheim. He wasn't pleased with what Shinra did sometimes, but he was only following orders. If he didn't do his job someone else would.

"Cloud..."

Reno looked at the supposedly unconscious Soldier. His mako eyes were wide open and he kept muttering incoherently. They didn't even strap him down assuming he wouldn't be able to move. For the most part he couldn't, but he was a Soldier, he was a fast healer.

"Cloud..." He trembled and struggled to get up to no avail.

"Relax, I'm taking you to a doctor."

Zack decided not to argue and did as he was told. There wasn't much he could do anyway. "Where is he?"

Cloud... Reno didn't have the slightest idea who he was talking about. He knew a few of the more famous Soldiers such as Sephiroth. How could anyone not know Sephiroth? But Cloud? He had never heard such a name. "He's fine, Soldiers don't die easily."

"He wasn't... he was a Shinra cadet but he could... he could be... I'm sure..."

"Hey, don't try to talk."

"Cloud..."

"Just rest."

"Did he stop... Sephiroth? The truth..."

Sephiroth, the legend, the man who was once thought to be invincible, he was dead. "Sephiroth is dead, that much I can say for sure."

"Then Cloud must be... alive." Zack closed his eyes and slept, Cloud had made it, he must have survived. The boy had courage and strength beyond what he was given credit for. He was Zack's best friend. Cloud... He truly had what it takes to be a Soldier, someday.

xoxox xox xoxox

After the helicopter landed at Shinra Headquarters, a team of doctors and scientists arrived to take Zack inside. Hojo was their leader. "This specimen will do nicely... and the other one, the one who was surprisingly strong should be here soon."

Reno never liked Hojo; the man was disturbing beyond what he thought possible and had a certain cruelty to him that was just crossing the line. Creepy, that was the word that best described the scientist.

The Turk gave the sleeping, dark haired man one last glance as they took him inside. The helicopter took off once again as the Soldier's name finally surfaced in Reno's memory. Zack, he was Zack, a first class Soldier. For him the word that best seemed to fit was... noble.

End of Fantasy 18

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. I was making some pixels for my site which is mostly about Reno, after making a few Reno pixels and a Zack pixel I realized that they have very little interaction that we see. That's when this idea came along, I wanted to write something with those two that could fit into the storyline. 


	19. Story 19

Fantastic

Fantasy 19: Evolution

There was something special about finding a childhood friend nearly a decade since the last time I saw him. But it also made me doubt if he was just a childhood friend, or if maybe he had somehow become more, and I didn't realize it until I saw him again.

No, that couldn't be it; this wasn't about the past at all. It was all about the future, it was all about me realizing that the cool boy I used to play with, and occasionally pick on, was no longer simply a cool boy; he was a hot young man.

It wasn't just a matter of growing up; he had done so much more. He had evolved, undergone a metamorphosis. There he stood before me, with his unmistakable flaming red hair that confirmed his identity, despite how much he changed over the years.

The boy I played with long ago had become a man. But he was never really a child, just smaller, chibified in a way. Reno, the polygon boy I played with so long ago, had become a CG man. And the first thought that crossed my mind was "evolution has never been this hot..."

End of Fantasy 19

The narrator is up to interpretation. I can tell you it's not me because I didn't play the original Final Fantasy VII until after I watched Advent Children. But the joke-bunny was too strangely amusing to resist. Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. 


	20. Story 20

Fantastic

Fantasy 20: To Make a Difference

Have you ever felt conflicted, but at the same time reassured? I know it's a contradiction but that's how I feel right now.

Marlene smiles at me, she always has for as long as I can remember. She wasn't sad or disappointed by my choice; she was the first one to understand why I'm doing this.

Tifa smiles too, but I know she still doesn't understand. She wonders if she failed me somehow, made me run away. But it's not like that at all. Tifa was always there for me, she always took care of me and I assured her of that. I'm very thankful, that's why I chose this.

Cloud was upset, he thought I was making a mistake, he thought he had made a mistake as well. From his stories I don't think he did, I think he did what he had to do, he held on to his dreams.

Barret was shocked to silence then enraged, he spoke the word 'traitor' before Tifa slammed her fist on the table, leaving an indentation, and silenced him with her eyes.

Cid only said, "good luck to ya, kid!" and Shera smiled, I think she understood too, but Cid only accepted it, maybe without fully understanding. But he accepted it none the less.

Nanaki tilted his head to the side and asked "are you sure?" with the most puzzled look I've seen him wear. I think I later heard him mutter something about not understanding humans.

Vincent was quiet, speaking only a barely audible, "find your path..." that I'm not sure if he actually spoke or I only imagined.

Yuffie only said "what?!" Then blinked and looked around adding "I don't get it!"

Reeve was disappointed, he wanted me to work with him, but he forced himself to be accepting of my choice.

Tseng was as I imagined, though I never knew him well before this, and there is still a lot I don't know. I also still don't know a lot about Elena or Rude.

Reno was surprising. I've seen him come to the Seventh Heaven, order a drink and hang around, joking and relaxing, and seemingly slacking. But he gets his job done and takes pride in it. Sometimes he seems different, the relaxed Reno can occasionally be replaced by a Reno who shows his experience with the Turks, he's not an easy trainer, but its best that way, I want to learn.

Marlene still smiles, I always tell her how I'm doing, as long as it's something that can be told. There's no need to push my family into anything too secret, not that I have been assigned anything like that yet.

Tifa's smile seems more sincere, she finally understands.

Cloud helps me train in my free time, though the training is quite different from what I do with Reno. Soldiers are strong; Turks have to be strong too but also sneaky, quick thinking and cunning. I was surprised to learn how much control the Turks had from the shadows while the Soldiers were sent to the front lines. It's still useful though, and I'm glad to train with Cloud, he said he remembered something that made him change his mind about my choice.

Barret has not yelled since that time, but he has not spoken to me either. He did eventually stop giving me those unpleasant looks when I tell Marlene about Shinra. He needs more time and maybe we'll actually talk again someday.

Cid always has a "glad to hear it!" for my news and Shera congratulates my achievements, even if they're only small steps and I still have a long way to go.

Nanaki has told me "I think I understand it now," and I'm glad he does.

Vincent is still quiet as always, but the look in his eyes says it all. I should follow what I think is right.

Yuffie gave me a thumbs up the other day. I don't think she gets it, but at least she has taken a positive attitude about it since almost everyone else has.

Reeve has mentioned that I'm welcomed to work with the WRO if I change my mind, but he doesn't sound as disappointed as he did before. He might be starting to understand my reasons too.

I see Tseng, Elena and Rude occasionally at work and sometimes catch a glimpse of Rufus, though I'm still technically in training.

I finally understand that Reno was only joking when he used to say "keep your friends close and your enemies closer." As true as it may be, if he doubted I could develop a loyalty to the Turks, I know he wouldn't have trained me.

Have you ever felt conflicted, but at the same time reassured? The path I chose is not an easy one and it's not the path I was expected to take. None the less, I need to hold on to my dreams and pride, just as Cloud said. As a Turk I can make a difference, because this world still needs the Turks to watch over it, and Shinra has been changing and keeping it stable.

Sometimes I feel conflicted, but soon after, I'm reassured. This may not be what was expected of me, but it is the path I chose, and I know I'm doing the right thing. Some have already understood, and others will understand some day. To make a difference, to achieve my dream, with pride I am... Denzel of the Turks.

End of Fantasy 20

This was based on a dream. I wrote a little drabble about Denzel's training which details his weapon and materia as I dreamt it. The idea still stayed with me, the plot bunny still poking, so I wrote this to make it calm down and add more detail about the other characters' reactions. Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. 


	21. Story 21

Fantastic

Fantasy 21: Hey Listen!

Some listen selfishly, others listen by adding sounds, while some listen in silence, there are those who listen selectively and others who listen at random.

Rufus only hears things that concern him, the words 'you' and 'your' really catch his attention. When the president needs to hear something, it is best to start by explaining why it concerns him, then telling him the news, otherwise he wouldn't hear it. Rufus listens selfishly.

Elena listens better to the first things said in a conversation and is always quick to reply. With Elena it's always best to summarize things so that everything that needs to be said is said before her quick answer. After that it's just a matter of filtering out the extra information and taking note of the main idea. Elena doesn't summarize, thus the other speaker must summarize to balance it out. This could be good or bad since sometimes the extra details are helpful, but other times they are not. Elena listens by adding sounds.

Rude is quiet but a good listener, even if it sometimes it looks like he's ignoring what is being said. He hears things with or without looking at people. However, those who want a response will be disappointed. You'd had to look at his face and search for a soundless reply, the hint of a half nod or an aura that seems to communicate that he understood. Rude pays attention, but he doesn't reply. Rude listens in silence.

Tseng filters out the unimportant details, listening most of the time. He prefers to look at people, but he doesn't require it to hear. He responds when needed and offers a silent confirmation that he heard when he doesn't have anything to add. Most of the time it can be assumed that if it is something important, he heard it, and if it's not important, he didn't. Tseng listens selectively.

Reno rarely listens, but sometimes he does. He's the unpredictable one of the group, sometimes he hears, and sometimes sounds cease to exist for him. If he is looking at the one talking or not doesn't matter, either way he could or could not be receiving the message. Sometimes it's surprising that he didn't hear something that he should have, and equally surprising that he heard something else that he could have missed. Reno listens at random.

Everyone listens in their own way, so it's really a wonder they can somehow communicate...

End of Fantasy 21

Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII.


	22. Story 22

Fantastic

Fantasy 22: Fairy Tale

He didn't know why he had to hold on to it. It's not like he was going to use it, but after picking it up Elena didn't want him to put it down. Maybe he could give it to Rude to carry around or maybe Elena could use it or at least carry it since keeping it was her idea. It didn't matter, he would get rid of it soon enough. Maybe he should sell it and buy something useful.

xoxox xox xoxox

While the others were getting some rest at the inn at Gongaga, Aeris had gone out for a little walk. "His home town..." It had been so many years ago. She never got to visit his hometown with him, she never even knew where he was from. He never introduced her to his family like his parents might have expected from his letter years ago. She had tried her best to move on, but on lonely nights like this she remembered him. She wondered if he found someone else or... She didn't want to think about the other possibility. He was a first class Soldier, he was strong and even if he wasn't with her she wished him happiness.

'Cloud you asked me his name... I didn't tell you because if you did know him, then you might start talking about him and... I can't hear his name without remembering. But then after you spoke to his parents I told you he was my first love. Why am I sad? I've moved on... Maybe it's true what they say, you never forget your first love or is it you never forget true love?' "Zack..."

xoxox xox xoxox

"You dropped it?"

"That's what I said."

Elena did not approve, not that it made any difference for Reno. It was just a stupid staff. "Losing Shinra property like that, how irresponsible." Elena placed her hands on her hips and shook her head.

"It wasn't even Shinra property, just something I found that I should have left on the ground."

"But you found it on your mission, what if it was evidence?"

"Evidence? Of what? We saw Cloud's group, why do we need evidence?" In Reno's opinion, Elena talked too much and tried too hard.

"There is someone ahead," Rude spoke and ended Reno and Elena's little argument. The three Turks approached quietly hiding behind bushes, rocks, anything they found on the way.

"Zack... I said I wouldn't cry for you... then why?" There was a young woman in a pink dress crying while holding the Fairy Tale, the staff Reno dropped in an earlier battle.

Elena opened her mouth as if to point out that it was the same staff Reno had found and lost earlier, but the two men shook their heads indicating that she should remain quiet so their location wouldn't be revealed. Luckily, Elena got the message. Rude started heading back and soon Reno and Elena followed.

"I thought they would be in the next town by now," Elena said. "Then we should..."

"Do nothing," Rude replied.

"Yeah, because..."

"We should give her a break even if she's the enemy?" Elena offered. "We should be considerate of her feelings? I didn't think you would say that Reno, but I guess you're right, just this once."

Reno looked confused at Elena's words. "I was going to say because we're off duty."

End of Fantasy 22

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. I replayed FFVII, it's good to do that once in a while. After the Gongaga Turks battle Reno drops the Fairy Tale so of course I had to write about it. 


	23. Story 23

Fantastic

Fantasy 23: Retreat

"Go!"

It was supposed to be a simple mission with no interference. He should have known otherwise. A Turk is supposed to be prepared for everything, but despite the kind of mission this was, he was relaxed and carefree as he always has been, not suspicions of what was to come what so ever.

He wanted to get this done and over with, return to Midgar, and get the afternoon off, though he highly doubted the latter would actually happened. None the less, they would all return to Midgar.

Reno of the Turks was perhaps more loyal to the Turks than to Shinra itself. He hated not expecting this twist, he hated not reacting fast enough, and most of all he hated retreating this time infinitely more then he had hated doing so in the past. This was different; this was a retreat that signified putting the mission before the comrades, which he would do without a second thought if they were regular Shinra cadets, but they were Turks.

Elena's voice telling him escape with what could have been her last breath, while Tseng lay apparently lifelessly on the ground of the Northern Crater, would ring out in his mind throughout the entire helicopter ride back to Midgar.

He felt like a traitor, and it made him miss the times when he had to run away dodging bullets alongside Rude; but Tseng and Elena were not escaping with him now. They stayed behind and he continued the mission.

Part of being a Turks was remaining cool, and composed, something that he did rather well. Carefree and somewhat playful, that day his mood was even less serious than usual. One would say he didn't give a care; but he did, which is why he continued being Reno of the Turks.

End of Fantasy 23

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. 


	24. Story 24

I'm almost done organizing the "Fantastic" and "More Fantasies" collections. I didn't delete any stories; I only integrated them into the one-shot collections. I'll try to PM everyone who reviewed to let them know in case someone added the stories to their favorites when they were posted separately. Anyway, my fics will be far better organized when I'm done with this revision and I've made a lot of corrections so the grammar and spelling had definitely improved. If you see anything that needs to be fixed, please let me know!

Fantastic

Fantasy 24: If Someone Must

"Aren't you concerned?" A little voiced mentally whispered. It could very well be the voice of a conscience thought to be turned off.

"Concerned?" The opposing voice mentally replied. It was similar to a cartoon with a little angel and devil, one sitting on each shoulder of the main character, arguing about the protagonist's actions. "Concerned as in worried or guilty?"

"Yes both. Before you say it, I know very well that if you don't press the button, someone else will, but the delay might... it might..." The voice of guilt and pity trailed off into silence.

"You do realize that the delay won't accomplish anything right? I have all the confirmation I need from those who truly need to approve of this. By this I mean shut up and let me press the button." There was no argument against the petition and thus, the button was pressed. It's not like anyone could truly say they didn't see it coming.

End of Fantasy 24

Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. 


	25. Story 25

This one is a crack-fic written for CrAze's Opposite Day challenge.

Fantastic

Fantasy 25: Unreal

When he opened the door to the office that he thought was still his, he found that it had been taken over by someone else. Elena received him with a deadly glare which surprised him greatly. Tseng's shock continued to grow when he noticed Reno standing in a corner of the office, wearing a tie, his jacked closed, his hair perfectly groomed and no goggles.

"..." was all that Reno said.

"..." Elena appeared to agree.

Meanwhile Rude was chattering away and giggling like a girl.

Tseng promptly stepped back and closed the door. He spotted Cloud and rushed after him. "Everyone is acting all weird!" Tseng whined.

"So?" Cloud had a big cheerful grin plastered on his face, "who cares? Screw weirdness, I have a nice big meteor waiting to fall on this pitiful planet!"

Tseng shrugged; at least the president was acting normal today.

End of Fantasy 25

Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. 


	26. Story 26

Always a Turk

"So you see Reno, that's why you-"

"We," Rufus corrected.

"Right," Tseng sighed, "that's why -we- can't hurt the WRO."

Reno sat on a chair in the middle of Rufus' office pouting, while Rufus and Tseng circled him like vultures.

"Understood?" Rufus ordered more so than asked.

Reno pouted even more, if that was possible, and both Rufus and Tseng urged him with their eyes to answer. "Fine," the redhead finally replied.

xoxox xox xoxox

The days passed and nothing out of the ordinary happened, at least nothing uncommon for Shinra. Then one day, Reno was left with cleaning duty, dusting off old machinery that Shinra no longer used. He was upset; this was not a Turk's job. However, since Shinra was reformed, it made him wonder what -was- a Turk's job?

Thus Reno decided to just do as he was told and clean. He was indignantly scrubbing the long settled dust off an unidentified machine, when he suddenly heard a beep. The spot below his hand, a big red button, was pressed, and he could faintly see a green timer light up under the ocean of dust on the control panel above the button.

"Crap!" Reno tried to disable the missiles, he really did, but alas he could not. The machine was old, he wasn't sure how to operate it, and the controls were unresponsive and covered with thick layers of dust. It was too late.

Reno shook his head as an explosion echoed in the distance. He was going to get it now, but he couldn't help it, it was an accident. "Once a Turk, always a Turk," he concluded.

End

Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. 


	27. Story 27

Fantastic

Fantasy 27: Virtual Turks

Reno's Point of View

It was a perfect replica of the SOLDIER floor of old Shinra, but this one was in Edge instead of Midgar, and this one belonged to the Turks.

"Ready?"

"I'm always ready!" There are more of us now, and this one has a liking for machines. She emailed me about testing the battle simulation in the virtual chamber. Being busy with the coding and controls, she needed someone else to fight the virtual copies while she collected data.

First came the Rookie, though Elena is no longer the last to have joined, I still call her that. For a hologram, that copy could really punch, but it wasn't too strong. Then there was Leader. I'm not sure how those holographic bullets compared to real ones, but I had a feeling it was not smart to find out so I didn't. Finally there was aibou, that fight was a bit tougher then the others, I guess there was more data to work with, or maybe Rude's just stronger, yeah, most likely. Anyhow, I still beat them all.

"These copies are incomplete, but the data I collected today will be good. I'll have better versions by next week. It's too bad most of the virtual data from old Shinra was lost in the Midgar ruins..."

"I'm not flying over there to search for old computer chips," I do have the ability to read between the lines.

She looks like she's going to say something, but instead types into the computer, bright blue nails clicking on the keyboard. She grins and the image of Sephiroth appears before me. "Not all the data was lost, this was recovered almost completely."

We were never able to explain how the virtual chamber, and the entire floor, ended in ruins.

End of Fantasy 27

Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. 


	28. Stories 28 and 29

Fantastic

Fantasy 28: Buggy

Cloud and company had arrived at Nibelheim to find that the town was intact, which filled them with confusion and doubts for their conflicting memories. The situation of the town It didn't make sense, but they continued their journey hoping to find some answers. While the group went off to cross the Nibelheim Mountains, they left the buggy parked near town. With his head occupied in more important matters, Cloud absentmindedly left the keys in the ignition. He didn't know he would never see that buggy again.

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'He's impossible to deal with. He doesn't take his responsibilities as seriously as a Turks should. He and Rude are always talking about who they liked and who they didn't like, it gets annoying some times. At least he has a certain loyalty to the Turks that goes perhaps beyond whatever loyalty he might have towards Shinra as a whole,' Elena mused. "Reno, get out of there, Reno!" All else aside, there was no excuse for Reno to get into a vehicle he did not own and make himself comfortable as if it was his. Elena glared, she pouted, she crossed her arms and stomped her feet. "Get out!"

"No, mother, I don't want to." Reno's words were dripping with sarcasm, which only served to annoy Elena further. "Can I play a little longer, please mommy?" He didn't need a babysitter, especially not a rookie babysitter.

"I'm not your mother or your babysitter!" Elena threw her arms in the air. He had no respect for private property what so ever. She placed her left hand on her waist and pointed with her right, moving it back and forth in accusation. "You're going to get into trouble. Worse, you might get us all into trouble. This is not something you should be doing and you know it!"

Reno placed his feet on the dash and pushed the seat back. "I'm glad you know I'm not your kid or some kid you're babysitting, now stop acting like it."

That was it, Elena gave up. "Fine! Do whatever you want, but I'm not going to be a part of it and I'm... I'm... I'm telling Tseng!" In her frustration, she did not realize how childish her threat sounded.

"Go ahead tattle tell," Reno stuck his tongue at her and once again became comfortable in the soft seat. "Yo Rude, you want to drive?" He took the keys out of the ignition and waved them around like a trophy.

"You're stealing it?" Elena looked horrified. Rude remained silent, while Elena gave him a disapproving look that seemed to scream 'say something' louder than words could.

"Borrowing," Reno corrected. "I'll go for a drive then bring it right back. Rude, are you coming or are you coming?" Who in their right mind would leave a buggy sitting all alone just outside Nibelheim and expect to find it just as it was left? The keys were left in the ignition for crying out loud. The buggy was begging to be temporarily hijacked, permanently if it was as much a nice ride as it looked.

Finally, Rude spoke, "you drive."

Reno moved to the driver's seat so Rude could sit at the passenger's side. "See ya, later Elena!"

At first she ignored them while Reno took his sweet time listening to the engine purr and tuning the radio until he found some music he liked. Finally, she couldn't take it any longer. "Wait for me!" She hopped on the back seat. "I'm only going to make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"You just don't want to miss the ride." Elena chose to ignore Reno's comment in favor of looking out the window.

"We're off!" Reno stepped on the gas pedal and the buggy started moving full speed... backwards.

"What are you doing?" Elena yelled.

Reno slammed on the breaks. "It's not my fault!" He looked back; it seemed that he came within an inch of hitting a pole at the entrance of Nibelheim.

"You're the one who's driving! If it's not your fault, then whose fault is it?" Elena was already annoyed as it was and the recent event only made it worse. "We should park the buggy where it was and leave it there before you ruin it."

"Your bad mood is distracting me. You were probably wishing for something like that to happen. If you're going to ruin the fun, get out. It's not my fault I set it to go backwards, it's the fault of who ever designed this thing to look like it's set to go forward when it isn't," Reno argued.

"Maybe I should," Elena debated for a moment, but ultimately decided to stay, "forget it, let's just get the joy ride over with." The tension could be heavily felt in the buggy as Elena glared at the back of Reno's head and he played with the controls. Rude remained characteristically silent the entire time.

"There, we're on our way!" Now the buggy was moving forward as it should be. It was a smooth ride after Reno got it to work properly. The atmosphere inside the vehicle started to feel more relaxed save for the heat.

Elena occupied herself enjoying the scenery. She was feeling cranky because she was teamed with Reno and Rude instead of Tseng. Not that she particularly disliked those two; she was just upset that Tseng was stuck flying Scarlet around. "Hey!" Elena's train of thought was interrupted when the ride became bumpy. She found that instead of steering, Reno had gotten into a fight with his jacket, trying to get it off. They were approaching the river south of Nibelheim and the heat was strong on such a sunny day.

Reno tossed the jacket to the empty back seat next to Elena and poked around the control panel until he found the air conditioner. "Much better!"

Elena had to admit the air conditioner was nice. She was being cooked alive in her uniform before, but stubbornly tried to look professional.

Reno kept pressing buttons and found a way to retract the buggy's roof. At first it didn't look like a good idea with the burning sun, but up ahead was a shallow river that the buggy could cross. With an amused look, Reno stepped on the gas and crossed the river full speed. The result was refreshing drops of water raining on them just like a water park. "This is fun!" He made a U turn and repeated the action, speeding over the river several times.

"Reno you're getting us all wet!" Elena complained, but it was hard for her protest to be taken seriously when she said it between laughs.

"Then why are you laughing? Admit it, you're having fun!" Reno kept turning and going over the river.

"Oh, be quiet. I want to give Shinra a good impression." Elena mentally kicked herself for being there. She shouldn't have gotten involved; she should be back in Nibelheim waiting for Tseng after an aggravating day of transporting Scarlet.

"You worry too much," Reno stopped mid river, since it was easier to talk if they weren't having the water park experience. "Want to impress Tseng? That's fine but you don't need to be a workaholic to do that."

Elena's face turned as red as Reno's hair. Reno knew he was right and Rude had told him earlier that Elena liked Tseng, his information was always reliable. "I didn't say that!" Elena denied it as soon as she regained the ability to speak.

"It's true!" Reno already knew and Elena's face confirmed it. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Elena took a deep breath; there was no use in hiding it. "So what if it's true? It's not like Shinra has any rules about Turks going out with each other. Not that we're going out, I mean... I just... I... Forget about it, let's change the subject."

"Tseng and Scarlet are going to make a stop at Nibelheim before continuing the search for the huge materia she keeps talking about. Isn't it a pity that she's dragging him around as her pilot?" Reno was clearly hinting that they should head back to Nibelheim and heroically rescue Tseng.

Elena got the message and couldn't agree more. "You can fly a helicopter too, right Reno? Maybe you can take Tseng's place as her pilot!"

Reno didn't like where the conversation was going. "Not in a million years, Scarlet is creepy. Besides putting up with her is Tseng's duty as the leader of the Turks, poor Tseng, alone with Scarlet all the time."

Elena had enough, "forget professionalism, for now... We're going to save Tseng, full speed to Nibelheim!"

"Who put the rookie in charge?" Reno tried to return to Nibelheim anyway, but the buggy didn't move.

"What's wrong? Why aren't we moving?" Elena had a bad feeling.

"I don't know," Reno tried start the buggy again and after a few attempts, the engine made some odd noises and the air conditioner shut itself off, then the engine refused to respond at all. "We're stuck."

The buggy wasn't working. Why did this have to happen now of all times? Her beloved Tseng was in danger! "We're going on foot," Elena decided. She and Rude tossed their jackets and ties aside, this would be a long walk and the heat was too strong. Luckily, since they were in a shallow area of the river, crossing it on foot wasn't a problem. Elena took a moment to reanalyze the situation. "What are the chances of the buggy working again if it's on dry land?"

"Good," Rude replied.

"Yeah, I heard this model is known to randomly breakdown then start working again for no apparent reason." Reno gave Elena a suspicious look, "you're not suggesting that we..."

Elena nodded, "you two push, I'll drive."

Thus Reno and Rude ended up in the middle of the river, pushing the buggy. "This is heavy and it's not moving! Are you sure you're not stepping on the breaks, Elena?" Though the water was refreshing, Reno couldn't enjoy it in that situation.

"Of course not and I think we're making progress. Just a few more feet and we'll be out of the river. The trip to Nibelheim will be a lot faster and comfortable after this." Elena was determined, she might not get there before Scarlet but she would arrive on time to see Tseng and give Scarlet a clear, 'stay away from him' message.

"Are you sure we're making progress? It doesn't look like-" Before Reno could finish, the buggy started to move. It slipped off the shallow part of the river towards the deeper area and was carried down stream.

"Elena!" Reno and Rude called after her.

"It won't stop, the controls don't respond!" Elena was carried down the river on the buggy, further away from her destination. "Rude! Reno!" It was no use; her teammates couldn't keep up with the speed of the river on foot.

xoxox xox xoxox

After some time of being carried by the river and by a miracle not sinking, the buggy got stuck on a beach south of the quick sands that surrounded the Gold Saucer. Elena tried to get the buggy started again and by some miracle it worked. No one knew how those vehicles repaired themselves, but somehow after a breakdown, they mysteriously started working again a while later. Elena guided the buggy out of the sandy beach and into the grassy fields next to the quick sands. She rounded the mountains, passed Cosmo Canyon, then had to get across the portion of the river where the accident had occurred.

"Here goes, please don't break down!" Elena stepped on the gas all the way and the buggy was able to cross the shallow river without problems, however it didn't stop there. It looked like the gas pedal was stuck and the breaks couldn't do anything about it. Elena tried to keep herself calm, she was a Turk and she needed to handle this like a Turk would. But best solution she could come up with was driving back to Nibelheim full speed and hope the buggy would run out of fuel near there.

xoxox xox xoxox

Reno and Rude were trying to find Elena, following the course of the river. "Your throat will get dry faster," Rude pointed out.

Reno paused in his endless ramblings. "It'll be more boring if we don't talk while we go for a nice long walk in the middle of nowhere in an immense heat with nothing to drink." The sarcasm was evident and so was the sunburn.

When Reno and Rude least expected it, they heard the sound of an engine approaching. The buggy zoomed by full speed, with Elena on the wheel, "I can't!" She made a U turn and speed by again, "stop it!"

"Jump!" Reno yelled.

"Are you insane?" Elena wasn't sure if she should be asking or concluding. Then again, she didn't have much of a choice. "Alright, I'll do it!" She used one of the ties that they left in the buggy to secure the steering wheel at an angle where the buggy would drive in circles around Reno and Rude; she intended to have them catch her. "Here I go!" Elena jumped out of the buggy and tackled both Rude and Reno. "Thanks for catching me!"

"The buggy!" Rude suddenly directed their attention towards the rampaging vehicle. The tie snapped and the wheel spun around, causing the buggy to go after them. The three Turks scrambled out of the way, trying to avoid being run over.

There was a short but steep cliff ahead next to the coast line. They jumped, taking refuge behind the cliff and witnessed as the buggy flew above their heads full speed and plunged into the ocean. With the engine still roaring, the buggy slowly sank. "That was close," Elena finally let out a breath of relief.

"Too close," Rude agreed.

"But it was fun!" Reno was back to being his cheerful, carefree self.

"It's not over yet," Elena declared, "let's go save Tseng!"

xoxox xox xoxox

One year later, at the Seventh Heaven, "Tifa, do you remember what ever happened to that buggy we got from Dio?" It an unanswered question that Cloud suddenly remembered now that his mind wasn't occupied with discovering the truth about his past and saving the world.

"We parked it near Nibelheim and left it there after crossing the mountains," Tifa recalled. "Later we started using the Tiny Bronco for transportation and after that, the Highwind. I'm not sure what happened to the buggy, I don't remember seeing it. Do you still have the keys?"

"I can't find them. I wasn't sure were I put them, but I guess there were more important things going on at the time. Maybe I left the keys in the ignition," Cloud concluded.

Tifa shook her head. "It was probably stolen. Who knows where it could be now."

End of Fantasy 28

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Fantasy 29: Tiny Bronco

His first reaction when he saw the Tiny Bronco was to stare, to stare long and hard. There it was, in Midgar. He had initially thought it had been destroyed in the entire Northern Crater incident. After obtaining the Highwind, there wasn't much of a point in going back for a small airplane that could no longer fly. But Cid had noticed, as they flew over Bone Village, that the Tiny Bronco was nowhere to be seen. There were more important things occupying his mind at the time and afterwards he started to work on a new airship and he married Shera, he had done so much, he just didn't have time to think about Tiny Bronco. He never thought he would see it again and there of all places.

"Is something wrong?" Reeve wake the pilot from his thoughts.

Cid's initial surprise melted into a stream of colorful curses and mixed in the barely coherent remarks, there was a question which Reeve somehow caught.

"This airplane? Reno come in a helicopter, dragging it through the air. He occasionally tinkers with it. To be perfectly honest, my guess is he has absolutely no hopes of ever fixing it. He said something about waiting to try it out and see how different it feels from flying a helicopter and insisted on keeping it in storage."

"Who does he think he is taking other people's things without asking?" With more curses and complaints directed at the red haired Turk who wasn't even there at the time, Cid began to do a general check of the Tiny Bronco.

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"What could be keeping them?"

"I don't know and I don't care!" If anything, Yuffie was glad that Cid and Reeve had not yet arrived. They had left around twenty minutes ago to get something from the hanger and were yet to return. Yuffie didn't mind, she wasn't looking forward to flying anyway.

Vincent on the other hand didn't seem too happy with the delay but waited anyway.

Finally, after a few more minutes Reeve returned alone. "It seems that the mission will be postponed due to lack of transportation."

"Great! I'm out of here!" If she could avoid riding on the airship, or at least delay it, Yuffie was happy.

"Is there a reason for this?" Vincent inquried.

"Cid found the Tiny Bronco and got a little caught up with it..."

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"Yo!"

"It's about time you showed up!" Cid looked up from his current task of repairing Tiny Bronco for just a moment as Reno arrived, then he returned to his work. "Don't greet me like nothing's wrong and hand me that wrench over there."

At first Reno didn't understand why Cait Sith suddenly showed up with a message that Cid was waiting at the hanger, but now it was pretty clear it was something related to Tiny Bronco. He shrugged and gave Cid the tool he was asking for. "What's going on?"

"You stole Tiny Bronco, that's what's going on! Rufus tried, Cloud did it and now you."

"It's yours? I found it laying around near Bone Village a long time ago. They said I could take it."

"Those idiots, telling people to take what isn't theirs! Either way it's fixed, so I'll be taking it back now." Feeling satisfied with his work, Cid closed everything and jumped off Tiny Bronco.

"Too bad, I didn't even get to fly it..."

"You messed it up more than you fixed it."

"That's not my fault; I'm a helicopter pilot not a mechanic."

"Then why were you trying to fix it even if you didn't know what you were doing?"

"Because I didn't think I could make it worse?"

Cid could have thrown the tool box and everything in it at Reno at that momentn but chose to simply shake his head, make a pause and finally speak words that surprised them both. "Once around Edge, that's it and I'm coming along."

Reno couldn't pass up the offer to try flying a airplane. He liked flying in a helicopter, so maybe he would like flying the Tiny Bronco too. But airplanes are different from helicopters, they don't hover, they don't take off by going straight up and he certainly don't land by going straight down.

xoxox xox xoxox

As Yuffie happily walked down the street, off to the Seventh Heaven, she was sure that everyone or at least most of the people in Edge could hear Cid cursing at Reno's reckless flying just as clearly as she could, when the Tiny Bronco zoomed over her head.

End of Fantasy 29

xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox

Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. In the game the buggy is left behind to cross the Nibelheim mountains and if you return on the next disk, the buggy is gone. The game never explains what happened to it. The Tiny Bronco disappears in a similar way. 


	29. Story 30

Revised! I deleted the old one.

Fantastic

Fantasy 30: Wyvern

Years ago... "Look at this!" Reno, the new rookie at the Turks called. He held a strange egg.

"Leave it, we need to focus on our missing," the leader replied.

Reno looked at the egg curiously. He wondered what kind of animal would hatch from it. But he knew that taking it along would be impossible. "Good bye little one." He walked over to a pile of leaves to place the egg there, but tripped on some protuberant tree roots and fell, the egg escaping his grasp. "Oh, no! Come back here!" Miraculously, the egg did not break but it rolled away and fell into a crack on the ground. It sounded as if it landed on water. Reno peeked into the crack and saw a green glow. "Life stream? Sorry little one..."

"Reno! Hurry up!"

The young Turk rushed to meet his team, certain that whatever was in that egg, had not survived.

xoxox xox xoxox

Present day... "It's over there!" Elena called as she shot tranquilizers at the creature, but the small dragon-like animal swiftly avoided the projectiles.

"We have to catch that thing before it causes more damage!" Tseng led the pursuit, with Rude and Elena close behind.

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Reno had just finished taking a shower after staying at Shinra overnight; he usually slept though most of his night shifts. It was not until after he was fully dressed, and after adjusting his goggles to sit on his forehead exactly the way he liked them, that he finally answered the insistent ringing of his cell phone.

"Reno where are you? We have an emergency situation! Report to the cafeteria immediately." Tseng did not give Reno enough time to answer before a voice in the background called him and Tseng had to hang up.

Reno wasn't sure what this was about. How serious could a cafeteria emergency be? Maybe it was a food fight... and he just got out of the shower. He shrugged and grabbed his electro-rod from his locker, then headed to the elevators.

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"Reno, look out!" Rude's warning came a second too late. The strange miniature dragon had already jumped on Reno and... licked him.

"Hey little guy! Stop, what are you, a dog? Dragon things aren't supposed to lick," Reno patted the creature's head and it emitted a combination between growl and purr, but it was in a happy tone so Reno guessed it was purring more than growling. "Rude, where's the emergency?"

"You're holding it," the thing, whatever it was, had been very hard to catch for Tseng, Elena and Rude, but Reno caught it effortlessly and Rude didn't know why.

"Rude, the creature?" Tseng rushed over followed by Elena.

"There is it!" The funny thing was, Elena was pointing more at Reno than at the little animal he was holding.

"I hope you're talking about this guy," Reno petted the happy little animal again; it seemed to have taken a liking to him.

xoxox xox xoxox

"A why-ren?"

"It's a wyvern, Reno," Tseng corrected. They concluded that the creature was not a baby dragon but a wyvern.

"I've heard about them, the legend says that wyvern eggs need to be kept in the life spring to hatch," Elena recalled.

"Life spring... Could it be life stream?" Rude asked.

"Yes, probably, the life stream has received various names over time," Tseng agreed.

"Well, it did come out of a crack in the basement, and there's that underground cavern bellow," Elena added.

"So there's life stream under Shinra and this little guy came from there..." Reno held the little wyvern. He wasn't sure why the baby trusted him, but didn't appear to trust any other humans.

The life stream was all over the planet, and by coincidence or destiny, the currents of life had brought the egg from its resting place, to the life stream river that flowed bellow Shinra, where it hatched. Reno didn't remember that it had been him who accidentally placed the wyvern egg on the life stream, thus allowing the baby to grow and hatch over the years after recovering from its long hibernation. The baby wyvern somehow recognized Reno by instinct and trusted him as his hero, protector and daddy.

"This little guy is pretty cool. I think I'll keep him," Reno received a collective look of disapproval from the other Turks. "What? It's better than abandoning him in the city?" He did have a point.

Tseng took a deep breath and came to a decision. "Reno, I will give you the mission to watch over the baby wyvern and keep him and yourself out of trouble. This is an official Turk mission and I expect you to take it seriously." Tseng was already regretting his decision.

Reno had not been listening at all; he was playing with the wyvern. "We need to name him!"

"We need to fix the mess he made," Tseng tried to set the priorities straight but he knew it wouldn't work on Reno.

Elena pulled out her cell phone and made a call. "We need a clean up crew in the gym, halls, kitchen and cafeteria, that's an order from the Turks." She shut her cell phone before whatever unimportant employee had the chance to reply. "It's fixed."

"Good, now we can get to the important part, like naming the wyvern." Reno waited for a few name suggestions, though he would most likely end up choosing the name himself, unless someone came up with a name he really liked.

Tseng tried to remember if there was anything else that they needed to do, but could not think of anything. "It is the only wyvern; why not just call it wyvern?" It sounded logical to him, but it was too obvious so no one else approved.

"That wouldn't be very original, he deserves a better name." Reno petted the little wyvern who was dozing off in his arms.

Elena decided to participate in the naming process. "How about Chibi Turk, or Blueberry, or..."

"Dragoon," Rude voiced.

The little wyvern emitted a high pitched happy squeal that the Turks did not know if it was an approval or a yawn. "Dragoon it is!" Reno agreed.

xoxox xox xoxox

Holding Tifa's hand for support, Cloud took a deep breath and answered the phone. He was fine with listening to messages, but a bit jumpy about answering the phone. He didn't want to receive bad news that would be all the more shocking if he heard them live, or at least that was his logic. "Strife Delivery Service."

"Who is this?" At first the male voice came as a surprise for Reno. He wasn't even calling about delivering anything; he was calling Tifa about babysitting. True that he was using the number from the Strife Delivery Service fliers that were all over the city, but Cloud never answered the phone anyway, Tifa always did.

"Cloud Strife from Strife Delivery Service," great, just great; Cloud finally mustered the courage to answer the phone and it turned out to be a wrong number, but the voice sounded familiar. "Who are you?"

"Oh it's you; I didn't expect you to answer the phone because you never do. It's Reno of the Turks. Finally getting over your phone phobia, Cloud?" Reno laughed.

"I don't have phone phobia, I'm not afraid of phones," Cloud frowned, "I'm just a little nervous about answering phones that's all," he muttered under his breath. Tifa squeezed Cloud's hand in reassurance and nodded when he glanced at her.

"Is Tifa there?" Reno asked, taking note of Tseng's look which indicated he should hurry up and find a babysitter for Dragoon.

"Yes, but why are you calling her on my phone?" Cloud felt as if he was losing a little piece of his newly regained identity by losing his phone.

"Because she always picks it up, now put her on unless you have a babysitting service to go with that delivery service." Reno petted Dragoon who sat contently on his lag wagging his tail.

Cloud considered the possibility. The Shinra postal service was a big competitor for Cloud's small business. Reeve was the only one who hired Cloud as often as possible. "Yes, I do."

"How much?" Reno asked.

There was a pause, "Tifa how much do babysitters charge by the hour?"

Tifa blinked, she had thought this was about delivering a package, not babysitting. Then again Cloud needed all the help he could get with his business. "I guess it depends on how many children need to be watched and how old they are."

"50 gil an hour," Cloud replied. Hey it was more than he made in a day lately.

Reno knew having a pet was expensive, especially if he had to hire a babysitter because Tseng kept warning him not to leave the wyvern alone. Hopefully Reno could get the baby wyvern to trust Cloud, and Cloud should be able to handle keeping Dragoon out of trouble. "Okay, I'll take the baby to the Seventh Heaven and come pick him up after work." Reno hung up without saying goodbye, a fact that unnerved Cloud.

"Hello? Reno?" The sound of the line going dead invaded the phone. "He hung up on me... Tifa he hung up on me!"

"There, there, it's alright," Tifa hugged Cloud and tried to console him. She would have to warn the Turks to be more tactful and considerate when talking to Cloud on the phone. "What kind of deal did you make?"

"Babysitting... I hope you don't mind that I technically stole your client," Cloud confessed.

"It's fine, I'm busy with the restaurant and bar anyway." Tifa looked thoughtful, "although, it's a little unusual that Reno would call about babysitting, that was Reno of the Turks right?"

"Yeah, that's the only Reno I know," Cloud nodded. "He said he was brining the baby over here." Wait, the baby? Reno had a baby?

Tifa looked curious. "Reno's baby? Who's the mother?"

"I don't know," Cloud would just have to ask about it when Reno arrived.

xoxox xox xoxox

When Reno arrived at the Seventh Heaven, Cloud could only stare at the creature in his arms. "His name is Dragoon."

"What kind of crazy experiment did Shinra use on the poor child?" This was unforgivable, for Shinra to experiment on a defenseless baby and turn him into a dragon-like creature. Furthermore, if Reno agreed to let them do it, Cloud would personally make him regret it.

Dragoon gave a high pitched whining growl and Reno tried to comfort him. "Don't be mean to my pet or I'll fire you!"

"Your pet? You mean he was never a human baby? He's always been a dragon?" Cloud felt relieved but at the same time tricked. Reno didn't say the baby he was supposed to take care of was a dragon.

"He's a wyvern, not a dragon, and his name is Dragoon," Reno tried to give Dragoon to Cloud, but the wyvern clung to his daddy and refused to let go. "He doesn't like you very much..."

Tifa witnessed the scene and curiously looked at the wyvern. "I thought wyverns were extinct." Books told the tale of the last dragoon knight to ever come into contact with a real wyvern, was the legendary Kain, but that was many years ago.

"Is the baby here?" Marlene ran down the stairs. She had heard from Cloud that there would be a baby over for the day and she wanted to see him. Denzel followed close behind, also curious about the child.

Dragoon looked at Marlene and Denzel. These humans were small and didn't scare him. The children approached and smiled at the baby wyvern. Well, Cloud never said it was a human baby, they had simply assumed it was; goes to show you it's not good to jump to conclusions.

"May I?" Marlene asked.

"Me next," Denzel requested.

"Sure," Reno allowed Marlene to hold Dragoon. "He likes you two." The Turk looked at Cloud, "Strife, you're fired," he looked back at the children, "Marlene and Denzel, you're hired. Take care of Dragoon for the day, he's a wyvern and he likes chicken."

"Yes!" Of course the kids were all too happy to agree. They got to play with a baby wyvern all day and even got paid for it.

Cloud simply stared open mouthed, he wanted to say something but the words refused to come out as Reno walked out of the Seventh Heaven. "It's karma," he whispered. Well he did steal Tifa's babysitting job, so now Marlene and Denzel stole his.

xoxox xox xoxox

Dragoon flew around with a pair of shorts stuck on his tail, one shoe on his right paw and a shirt in his mouth. "Come back here!" Cloud Strife chased after the little wyvern who had made a mess in his closet.

"Dragoon!" Marlene and Denzel followed trying to catch him but the baby didn't want to be caught by the angry looking Cloud so he didn't stop.

Tifa watched the chaos unfold and sighed, she should have known it would end like this, but other than a messy closet there was no harm done so she could find some amusement in the situation.

Cid was just walking in when the little wyvern flew over his head. "What was that?"

The wyvern returned, curious about the new human and thought that perching himself on the head of said new human would be safe enough.

Cid picked the creature off his head and looked at it. "Some kind of dragon?"

"He's a wyvern," Denzel pointed out.

"And his name is Dragoon," added Marlene.

Cid took the shirt from Dragoon's mouth and handed it to Cloud, "I'm guessing this is yours." The shoe fell off Dragoon's paw, "and that too," Cid looked at the shorts on his tail, "and that."

Cloud looked embarrassed and snatched the clothes. He quickly picked up the shoe retreated to his room without saying a word.

"This is a rare new pet you two got here."

"He's not ours, Dragoon is Reno's pet," Denzel explained.

"Yeah, we're just babysitting him," Marlene was certainly enjoying taking care of Dragoon, though she did feel a little sorry for Cloud as did Denzel.

"I have a feeling this little guy will be troublesome..." Cid was right, from broken dishes to accidental arson; the wyvern was in fact quite troublesome.

xoxox xox xoxox

Several months passed and both the Seventh Heaven and Shinra Headquarters had felt the destruction caused by the wyvern. Reno placed his pet on the desk and collapsed into his chair; he leaned back and closed his eyes. Taking care of Dragoon was certainly a big workout. Dragoon purred and chewed up some paper work.

"Reno, you can't keep him anymore," Tseng knew that Reno would be hard to convince.

It didn't surprise the leader that the redhead was soon clinging to the wyvern. "He's my baby and I'm not letting him go. Who's going to take care of him?"

"Reno, you have to let him go, let's not forget the chocobo incident," Tseng reminded.

Elena grimaced at the memory and agreed, "Tseng is right, Dragoon belongs out in the wild, you can't keep him forever."

"Just because he hunted and ate a few of Rufus' price winning chocobos, even if the birds were a lot bigger than him, doesn't mean he'll try to eat us!" Reno defended.

"I didn't say he would," Tseng tried to reason with Reno, "but clearly Dragoon doesn't need you to feed him anymore and he seems to have taken a liking to raw chocobo meat more so than fried chicken..."

"Then I'll give him raw chicken then..." Reno insisted.

"Reno..." Tseng rested his case; Reno had to come to terms with the situation himself.

"Haven't you ever heard of 'if you love it let it go'?" Elena asked.

"That's just a stupid excuse so people don't have to admit they couldn't keep what they love," Reno pouted and continued hugging the wyvern who licked his face happily and wagged his tail.

Rufus suddenly threw the door opened and pointed at Dragoon, a few golden feathers in his hand, "he has to go!" He threw the golden feathers on Reno's desk; they must have been from Dragoon's latest victim. Just as suddenly as he came Rufus stomped out and slammed the door shut.

"I heard wild chocobos taste better anyway," Rude offered.

Reno nodded, "yeah, I know..."

xoxox xox xoxox

Just outside of Midgar Reno, Rude, Elena and Tseng had gathered to release Dragoon. "Okay Dragoon, you're free to go. If you need anything, you know where I live. Take care of yourself." Reno hugged the wyvern. Dragoon licked him and purred then flew off as if he understood...

xoxox xox xoxox

Reno's Point of View

Who ever told Strife he had a good singing voice was a big fat liar. He's usually quiet and he should remain quiet. Okay, so maybe it's a good thing if he speaks a little more, no one likes Mr. Moping, but speaking and singing are two very different things; screeching and singing are even more different.

I don't know why I agreed to come to the karaoke party at the Seventh Heaven. I haven't had a turn to play yet, because Turks go last and every member of Avalanche is here. I don't even know why Tifa invited me or why I agreed to come. My questions are soon answered when Tifa comes by and fills up my glass. I'm her best customer next to Rude and the booze is on sale today; that explains a lot.

I empty my glass, the liquid burning down my throat. It doesn't take a lot for the drunken mood to be ruined for me and listening to Strife is making me sober. I raise my glass again, signaling for Tifa to bring me a refill, then consider running away for the sake of saving my ears. The guys of Avalanche can't sing. Strife may be done, but now Barret's up there poisoning the sound waves, this sucks.

Tifa refills my glass and I reconsider my options, maybe I'll endure this for a while longer, Turks are tough after all. I can take another horrible song, but it looks like Tuesti can't. He's been sitting in a corner twitching since Strife let out the first earsplitting note. He looks pathetic clutching Cait Sith like that. Maybe he'll snap and tell Barret to shut up. I would do it myself, but then Tifa will be mad and it's not a good idea to make the bartender mad.

I finish my glass again and lean back, closing my eyes and trying to mentally block out the sound while wishing for Barret to catch on fire. Even if I try not to show it, I know my expression must look like I'm being tortured, and I am.

Then a miracle happens, my wish s granted and Barret randomly catches on fire. People are yelling and running around in circles. If I still had any liquor left in my glass, I would throw it at Barret and say I was trying to put out the fire and that I didn't know alcohol was flammable. Too bad my glass is empty, but it's still amusing to watch Avalanche panic.

They finally put the fire out and Barret looks like he's okay, too bad. He's cursing like there's no tomorrow and pointing at something near the ceiling. I look up and find the cause of the fire. I had my eyes closed and wasn't paying attention, so I thought Barret really did randomly catch on fire, but it wasn't random.

I stand up and run towards him, "you're back!" Dragoon returned! I set him free and he came back. Not only that, the little guy has grown quite a bit, he is now the same size as Marlene and knows how breathe fire even if it's just a bit!

Dragoon tackled me and licked my face; his tongue is warm but doesn't burn, despite the residual smoke coming out of his mouth. "Dragoon! I missed you little guy." This time, my wyvern is staying no matter what anyone says.

End of Fantasy 30

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. This story was inspired by a scene in Final Fantasy II for the Gameboy Advance, where Firion has to take a wyvern egg to the life spring. Thanks to Quiet N Cryptic for the karaoke idea. 


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